Ashes
by UnicornVine
Summary: While the Ministry and the Order fight together for peace against an uprising of Voldermort supporters after the War, Hermione is settled into a safe house with everyone's favourite Slytherins. Dramione and other pairings. M/MA for future chapters.
1. The Fall of White Rabbit

"Do you think we'll live a normal life ever again?"

Hermione looked over to the dark skinned man sat next to her on the sofa. "When has our life ever been normal?"

"Do you ever wish you hadn't have found out?"

"No. Not for a second." She replied closing her book and placing it on the table in front of them.

"Me either. I thought I would after everything but I really don't." Dean checked his watch and asked. "Where's Harry?"

"He's at Headquarters." By Headquarters she meant Andromeda's home, now overrun by members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Do you think they will find them all?" He moved his arm to the back of the sofa, encircling her shoulders.

"They aren't the type of people to keep quiet for long."

"Hmmm. " He said nodding his head.

"Hence why we are here. They will come for the Muggle born first. They think we're easy, that our abilities are lesser."

"You would have though you being Harry Potter's best friend would have changed their opinions by now."

"They think I stole my magic and that's why I'm good at what I do. That's what she said to me that night." She looked at the book on the table and not in his eyes. It made it easier to talk about it. If she didnt look at him.

"Bellatrix?" He said softly stroking her shoulder with his fingers.

She nodded. "She said I was disgusting, that I was a thief. That I was lower than shit on her shoe."

"If anyone is more deserving of having this gift it's you."

"Thank you." She looked at him and smiled.

"It's good. How you can talk about it. " His brown eyes were large and lovely. It was easy to be open with him. He made her feel comfortable.

"I've seen what keeping it all in does. I don't want to be like that."

"It's brave."

She shook her head. "Sitting in a house doing nothing isn't brave."

"We can't do anything else. We're targets, you said yourself."

"I know. I just feel useless. Stuck here."

"Hey! I thought I was doing a good job of keeping you entertained?" He feigned being upset and stuck out his bottom lip but smiled quickly after.

"You are. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." He continued to smile at her keeping the circling of his fingers on her shoulder.

"I just wish there was something we could do."

"I can take your mind off it if you want?" He reached out and placed his free hand in hers.

"Dean…" She started, not sure of what she would say next.

"Why are you overthinking this?"

She looked at him incredulously and answered. "Because that's what I do."

"Then do me a favour and just… don't think, just for a few seconds." He leaned his head a fraction closer to hers and she looked at him. His large brown eyes looking into hers. This is the way it had been for the past two months of the four that they had been together in the safe house.

At first he would sit a bit closer on the sofa. He would look at her for that bit too long after making her laugh. Harry was always out for most of the day and only returned late to sleep so they only had each other. A touch of her hand. A hug that lasted too long. A kiss here and there. Then the kisses would last longer. Now he would push her flush up against a wall where she could feel the hardness in his trousers against her stomach. The first time he went down on her was an eye opener. She didn't know her leg would twitch or that she would feel like her insides were on fire.

She didn't think she would like going down on him but she did. She liked watching him fall apart under her touches. They hadn't had sex but she could knew Dean wanted to. She liked him and he liked her but was that enough? They got on and she cared about him but this was just a way to pass the day and not about love. She wouldn't live long enough for that. Not in this world.

All of three seconds had passed and Dean continued to close that gap between them. Three seconds and all those thoughts had run through her mind. She really did think too much. Maybe Dean was right. She needed to not think and just let go every now and then. She had lived her life by books and plans and rules and maybe she needed time to just not be that person anymore. So she didn't. She cleared her head and thought only of this man in front of her, with his brown eyes and his soft lips inching their way closer to hers.

It was different to Ron but not in a bad way. Dean's lips were larger, softer and seemed to be well practised. Ron's were thinner but still practised from his months with Lavender.

Ron and the rest of the Weasley clan would make their bi-weekly visit for dinner on a Sunday. She would help Molly and Ginny with the cooking then sit and chat with Ron and Harry like they would in the great hall at Hogwarts. It wasn't awkward with Ron. It never had been. They had just drifted from their feelings and found their friendship meant more than ever.

Those days they didn't talk of the world outside the small house. Then when the family left the sense of loneliness would set in. Harry would stay in his room and plan without her and she would take solace in Dean. And he would take solace in her.

The thing with Dean was that they both knew what this was. They weren't in school now and they had been forced to group up quickly in the new world. It had now been six months since Voldemort was killed and for the first two months the world felt right. Until the attacks started. Firstly, it was a Ministry worker, then a few Muggles.

Everywhere more and more people were being attacked. And the majority of the attacks were on Muggle born Witches and Wizards or Half Bloods.

Four months ago Hermione thought she had died. She had dreamt of empty faces and dark rooms for what seemed an eternity. She had been told once she had woken up that she had been attacked and narrowly escaped death due to a badly placed curse by a young recruit. She had moved to the safe house the next day and Dean had arrived three weeks later.

She was thought to have been one of the main targets of ' _The Ashes_.' Harry was also in the safe house with them but he spent most of his time with the Order or the Ministry trying to come up with ways to capture, or stop them.

It was an unusual name for the group of unforgiving death eaters. When you think of rising from the ashes you think of a Phoenix. A beautiful creature signalling a new beginning. A creature with healing powers and creating a fresh start, yet these people had adapted it to their cause. A new beginning from the Ashes of Tom Riddles decaying body.

Each time they attacked they would leave messages on the bodies of the dead. Usually a derivative of their motto: 'From his ashes we will rise.' They were scratched into the skin, just like her mudblood scar. They would write it on the walls around the bodies using their clotting blood.

As the whispers reached the Ministry and the Order it was no surprise that they found Rodolphus Lestrange at the head of the group. No doubt in her mind where he got the idea of disfiguring their bodies from. The thought made her shiver.

It felt like every day that they were there was a count down on their time. A countdown on when they would either be found and killed, or when the Ashes would be found and locked up. In the end it was one or the other. Neither could still be around with the other.

After a few seconds, Dean lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked it lightly and tickled his tongue against her lips. She parted her lips slowly as they continued to kiss, massaging their tongues together. He moved his hand into her hair, ticking the back of her neck with his fingertips and she moved her hand to grip his shirt. He pulled away slowly and kissed her on the nose.

"When did you get so hot?" Dean asked.

"When I'm the only girl you've laid eyes on for four months."

"You're very presumptuous."

"I am also very correct." She quipped at him and raised her eyebrows.

"Then why didn't you tell me to stop?"

"Because I wasn't thinking."

"Are you still thinking now?" He asked with a wide grin.

"No." She said flatly then mirrored his grin. She really found it hard to keep a straight face round him. His smile was infectious.

"Good." He leaned forward again and kissed her. This time more forceful than before. She let his tongue into her mouth straight away and grabbed at his shirt again. He ran his hand up her side then moved his hand to cup her breast pushing her back on the sofa and settling himself in between her legs pushing his area into hers.

She was right. She really wasn't thinking.

Luckily Harry came back at that moment and stopped them from completely losing their minds.

"Hermione?" He called out from the kitchen.

"Man, that guy has shit timing." Dean jibed as he moved off her and rested back on the arm of the sofa. Hermione smirked, stood up, adjusted her top and walked towards the kitchen.

"What's up Harry?" She called in his direction stepping into the kitchen.

"We have Nott!" He exclaimed too excited to keep still, pacing along the table in the square room.

"What!? How!?"

"We found one of their hide outs!"

"How many were there? Is anyone hurt?" A serious of faces flashed through her mind. People that she loved and cared about. People that she hadn't seen for weeks, months but still worried for despite their distance.

"Six captured. Nott the only senior member. The rest young. 4 lads, one girl. Everyone from the Order is fine. A few curses but nothing serious."

A sigh of relief left her lips. "That's great... You think they will talk?"

"I don't know... probably not." His smile faltered slightly.

"Can't we use Legilimens? Or Verit..."

He held up his hand to stop her "The new world has to be fair... and with that means nothing... forced."

It was right of course. But it didn't mean they had to like it. She would have used all the Veritiserum in the world to get information out of the group. But she knew things had to change and if that mean giving them their human rights then it had to happen, however much she hated the idea.

"How did you find them?" She asked.

"We have someone helping us."

This was new..."Who?"

"I cant tell you."

"Of course you can't." She huffed.

"What's up?" Dean had just walked in. Watching Hermione closely with her arms crossed over her chest looking worried.

"They found Nott." Hermione said flatly.

"How?" Dean asked.

"Someone on the inside?" Hermione questioned and directed towards Harry.

"Not anymore... No." He said turning to the cupboard behind him and pulling out a pack of biscuits.

"I wish you would tell me."

"I can't, I'm sorry." He said through a mouthful of crumbs.

"I know... Is there anything I can do? I'm bored out of my mind here." She looked at Dean; knowing it would annoy him but then again he annoyed quickly; who furrowed his brow and left the room with a huff.

"Trouble?" Harry questioned wiping biscuit from his shirt.

"Ugh no, we just feel useless."

"Be careful..."

"Harry..." She lent her hands on the back of one of the chairs not wanting to enter into this converswtion with him... again.

"He likes you." Harry stated.

"And I like him but it's nothing serious. We're... helping each other."

He held up his hands and said "I don't want to know."

She rolled her eyes at him but chose to ignore the comment. "Did you see Ginny?"

"Not today."

"Any letters?"

He shook his head.

"Can you at least get me some more books?" She moved away from the chair and to the kitchen counter, resting her back against the wood.

"I'll try." He said popping another biscuit into his mouth.

"What do you want to eat tonight?" She asked trying to prolong their conversation.

"Anything. Look, I've got some planning to do. Call me when food is ready." He practically ran from the kitchen and she was alone again.

Cooking for the two boys had become a regular theme this last month. She didn't mind. At least it kept her busy. She put on the radio and sung away as she made a questionable looking chicken pie and mash.

She called up to Harry and Dean at seven o'clock and they sat in comfortable silence together listening to the radio. The news bulletin just chiming in.

 _'The Ministry working alongside the Order of the Phoneix infiltrated a safe house of the rebellion group 'The Ashes' this morning with what they call, great success. We hope this is the start of more positive things to come and wish them all the best of luck. Merlin knows we need it.'_

"I wish they wouldn't broadcast it." Harry said drowning out the reporter.

"It gives hope." She said shrugging and putting the last piece of pie in her mouth.

"It lets them know what we're doing... if they don't already know that is..." He pushed his chair back from the table. "Thanks Hermione. That was great." He gave her a smile, levitated his dish into the sink and wandered out of the kitchen.

Dean nudged her arm and smiled at her. "Come on, I'll help you wash up."

"Its like I'm his personal housemaid sometimes." She said with a huff, standing and moving her plate to the sink.

Dean moved next to her and placed his empty plate on top of hers. "He's just busy with stuff. He doesn't mean it."

"I know... " She turned to face him. "I'm sorry about earlier. It just comes out wrong sometimes."

"I know." He reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear stroking her cheek and bending his head to give her a kiss. She smiled into it and pulled him closer. He cupped her face in his hands and pushed her into the worktop.

"Why don't we do the dishes later?" She smiled at the options he gave her. Wash up... or keep themselves entertained in much more appealing ways. She took his hand and guided them out of the kitchen, up the creaky staircase and into his bedroom closing the door quietly behind them. It wasn't _the_ night tonight, but soon. Soon, she decided. After all, what was the point in waiting?

.x.

Her and Dean had fallen into a light sleep after an hour of keeping one another very much awake. He was hugging her back and breathing lightly into her hair, ticking the pieces falling against her ear.

Hermione heard a creak on the stairs and opened her eyes. She was sure Harry was in his room, but this was an old house. It wouldn't be anything to worry about.

She settled again but heard ta definite creak one more time.

"Harry?" She called out, sitting up in bed and listening for a response.

"Calling another guys name whilst you're in my bed really doesn't do much for my ego yno." Dean mumbled beside her.

"Shut up." She hit him on the arm, moved off the bed pulling on her nightgown over her pyjamas and grabbed her wand from the bedside table.

"Get dressed." She whispered. He rolled his eyes and sulked out of bed grabbing the nearest t-shirt he could find and pulling on a pair of jogging bottoms.

"You're overreacting. Harry's probably just having some _alone_ time." He said rubbing his face and stepping towards the door. He held out his wand and pulled it open slowly. Peeking round the corner of the door.

"Harry." He called out. A shuffle was heard then the door opposite opened and the scruffy haired boy came into view.

"What?"

"Was that you creaking?"

He looked at Dean bemused. "I wish I knew what you were on about."

"Good." No sooner had Dean replied their eyes darted to the stairs.

 _Bang_

Something downstairs was knocked over.

"Don't panic," said Harry, "it's probably just Arthur."

"I'll go." Dean said. "Arthur?" he called as they watched him reach the top of the stairs. He took two steps down before they heard "Shit!" and "Expelliamus!" in quick succession.

They didn't even look at each other before they jumped into action. Hermione stepped back into Deans room and sent her Otter Patronus to the Burrow and Headquarters, calling for back-up. Harry raced to the top of the stairs to help Dean fight off the intruders.

She slipped off her dressing gown, knowing it would only hold her back as she heard shouts from below. She had seconds to check the wards. The plan of the house flashing in front of her eyes.

"Two at the bottom of the stairs, one at the back door and one at the front!" She shouted to the boys ahead of her as they shielded flashes of green light coming their way.

"Got one!" Dean shouted, the orange glow from his wand lighting up his face. With only the one at the bottom of the stairs now, the two boys fought quickly to disarm them before they retreated back up the stairs. Harry blasted a hole in the ceiling and debris fell on the stairs in front of them blocking anyone else from easily getting up the stairs. The house suddenly eerily quiet around them.

"The others will be here any second then Arthur can lift the wards and we can dissapparate." Harry whispered, his voice echoing in the silence of the hallway.

A loud noise of glass shattering was heard coming from Deans' bedroom behind them. When they turned they could see a huge wave of flames heading their way. They launched themselves out of the way and onto the floor of the hallway as the burning mass sped past their heads and into Harry's room, blasting out the windows.

"Feindfire!" Hermione shouted as she was pulled up by Dean and scrambled along the hall past the bathroom and into the third bedroom to the right.

"Window!" Dean shouted.

" _Bombarder_!" She pointed her wand and screamed over the roar of flames in the next room. As the pain of glass shattered green flashes flew at them from outside and they ducked quickly.

Dean wasn't quick enough. He landed on the floor screaming, blood spurting from his side writhing around in pain on the floor.

"There's more! At least ten! We're surrounded..." Harry shouted as Hermione grabbed a blanket from the floor on the bedroom and pushed it into Deans side trying to staunch the fast flow of blood from his stomach. Harry looked scared, both of them looking from one another to the gash on Deans side. The curse looked like it had slashed him from his ribs to his hip.

"I need dittany! Where are they!?" She screamed at Harry, tears filling her eyes. After everything this where they were going to die. After everything they had been through. Panic set in then and the shaking started. She could barely hold her wand and Deans side at the same time.

All of a sudden the roar of the fire in the next room started to crumble the wall. They could feel the heat already and it would break through any second and they would be toast. Harry looked to Hermione with that ' _What do we do_ ' look. And she didn't know. Either way they were dead so she chose not to be burnt alive.

" _Bombarder_!" Hermione screamed again as the wall surrounding the broken window burst apart. Harry grabbed one of Deans arms and Hermione dragged the other, pushing him over the side of the building and into the flower beds below. They both jumped in unison just as the wall to their right crumbled and the fire engulfed the room.

Harry was quick to think of a shield charm as they jumped so stopper the onslaught of curses being throw at them but neither thought of their landing. Hermione landed with a crack and felt a fire burst to life in her leg screaming loudly as she tried to focus and deflect the curses coming their way. One hit her in the upper arm ripping apart her bicep with a slash of blood that spat into her eyes, her wand falling from her hand. She was injured and defenceless in the dark. This was her worst nightmare.

She looked for Harry a few feet away on his knees fiercely dueling with Merlin knows how many Death Eaters that were waiting for them in the distance, slowly closing in on them. She crawled over to Dean covering her head to avoid the shower of bricks and stones falling all around her and narrowly missing another curse that smashed into the wall behind her, hissing.

When she reached him she kept herself as low as she could, pushing her good hand onto his stomach trying to stop the blood but it continued to pool under her fingers. She sobbed over his body as he continued to moan and write around in pain, thick blood seeping through his t-shirt.

"Dean!" She screamed trying to get him to look at her. She called his name over and over again until his movements lessened. She started to feel weak and dizzy.

"Dean! Someone help me! Please!" She screamed in his face as he became still, his blood covering her hand and clothes as she rested her arms on his still form and felt the world spin around her.

She heard a muffled shout from somewhere then flashes of green and orange and red. The shouts continued until she was yanked away from him by a girl with flaming red hair who began chanting over him.

She fell against the wall of the house watching Ginny try to save his life. A loud sob escaped her dry throat as the darkness took her and she thought of him and his dark eyes looking into hers.


	2. Blackgate

**Friday 13th November**

She was in the darkness. There was someone sitting on her chest trying to stop her breathing. Blasts of bright light hit her eyes and flashes of faces as she struggled to lift her arms to move the heavy weight.

She must have been back at the Manor. She saw Draco Malfoys face so close to hers and then Harry was there too. He was trying to talk to her but she couldn't hear him. It must be Malfoy. He must be trying to kill her. She starting kicking and punching out at him.

Harry was back. He looked like he was shouting now and holding her arms. Was he helping Malfoy? No. No, Harry was her best friend. He must be trying to save her. She needed to help him so she kicked and punched out at Malfoy again and again until another face appeared.

They opened her mouth and poured something into it. It smelt like a hospital and tasted like liquorice so she spat it out. It must be something to kill her. It was Narcissa Malfoy. She was helping Draco.

She panicked more trying to get to Harry, trying to get them to stop but she couldn't.

She was losing her strength as the air was ripped from her lungs. She was dizzy now and her movements slowed. The blonde woman held open her mouth and poured another vial of the liquid down her throat as she looked at the faces above her. She could do nothing but let it happen. She was completely helpless, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Harry was back. Betrayal plastered all over his face. _I'm sorry_ he mouthed, soothing her, stroking her face telling her it was going to be okay until the darkness took her again.

.x.

 **Saturday 14th** **November**

She woke suddenly coughing like she had sand in her throat. Everything was dry. Her eyes, her mouth, her skin. She opened her eyes slowly and painfully. She was in a small room with dark grey walls lit by a lamp on the beside table next to her. Her left leg was lifted in front of her, held from her knee to her ankle by a sling attached to the ceiling. She was wearing pyjama shorts. She could see her bare leg, a small scar freshly healed on her calf. She tried to lift herself up to move the sling from her leg but helped in pain when she did.

She saw stars and a burning sensation coursed through her leg . Just like it had when she had jumped from the window.

Dean. Where was Dean? And where was she?

" _Dean_." She tried to say but coughed again. She turned her head to the bedside table, finding a glass of water waiting for her. She tried to lift her right arm up but was met with searing pain again. She cried out seeing a long deep scar running from just below her shoulder to her elbow joint.

She had no idea where she was, she was alone and she couldn't move. She must have been captured by the other side. If she was alive it meant that nothing good was to come for her future. They would be keeping her alive for information that they would torture out of her. And that's when the crying started. This is where she would die.

All of a sudden the door opened and there stood Narcissa Malfoy looking across the room at her. That confirmed it. She was in the Manor, just as she had dreamed. But it wasn't a dream. This was her reality.

As she looked at the tall dark haired woman she saw what looked like disgust pass across her face. She felt a rumble pass through her chest before she screamed. Her scream however, came out of her as choked cry because of her dry throat.

She covered her face with her left hand, the only hand she could move as tears streamed from her eyes. She thought of her friends, Harry, Ron, Ginny and she thought of Dean most of all. She cried for him. She remembered the way he had fallen still under her touch and the way his mouth had lolled open before she was shoved aside. She cried for her loneliness. She cried because she was terrified. She cried for Dean because she was sure he was dead and right now she wished she was dead.

She heard frantic footsteps on the floor. This was it. They were coming to take her to them and they were going to torture her, or worse...

Draco Malfoy burst through the door and her breath caught in her throat. He stared at her, his eyes boring into hers. He was going to do it. He would kill her and she would die hating him. Just as she had lived hating him. He called out to someone else but she didnt hear a name. _Reinforcements_ she thought. She stared at him tears falling fast but the sobbing had stopped.

The hyperventilating had kicked in. She couldn't breathe again. This is when she saw Harry. She was hallucinating. He ran towards her bed and sat next to her. She felt the bed dip but it was just in her mind. She was alone and she would fall into the darkness again soon.

She could feel him stroking her face and holding her hand and telling her to calm down. He made her feel so safe. Hallucination Harry made her forget where she was. He felt so real.

"Hermione... It's okay I promise."

She looked into his eyes. They were the same green eyes of her best friend. The lightening scar indented into his forehead. She could see his messy hair and best of all she could smell him. He smelt like Harry.

" _Are you real?_ " She whispered, coughing lightly as she felt his fingers on her cheek. He looked behind him and nodded his head. She heard a shuffling of feet and the closing of a door before he turned back and smiled at her.

"Yes, I'm real." He leant down and kissed her head and she breathed him in.

" _They're going to kill us._ " She whispered tears glossing her eyes again.

"No." He said pulling back and firmly shaking his head. "We're safe. I promise you. Please trust me. You're safe, okay?"

She saw a new feint scar on his chin, then looked behind him to the doorway. No Malfoys watching any more. Did she hallucinate them instead?

" _Water_." She whispered again. The crying drying her throat even more.

"Oh sorry, here." He held the glass to her lips and she drank hungrily until it was empty. She gasped for breath and Harry returned the glass to the bedside table. She looked deep into his eyes. Confused.

" _Where are we?_ " Her voiced cracked.

"We're at another safe house of the Order." Another safe house. They were in a safe house before and they were attacked. The fight... Dean.

" _Dean_?" She asked even though she knew.

He shook his head slowly at her tears forming in his own eyes. "He didn't make it... I'm so sorry."

She nodded frozen at his words. She already knew he would be, but the truth hit her like a tonne of bricks. Dean was dead. Dean was dead. Dean, who she had grown up with and laughed with at school. Dean who she had lived with and slept with and been near everyday for the past four months had gone. He was her confidant. She told him everything and he wasn't here any more.

Her face wrinkled and the tears fell again. Then the uncontrollable sobbing started and her chest shook with the force of her sobs. Harry pulled her into a crippling hug and she felt his own tears fall onto her forehead. The pain in her arm seared at the pressure but she relished in the pain it bought. It was nothing compared to Dean. His last moments had probably been of immeasurable pain. Had he been scared? Of course he had. She remembered exactly how she felt watching him. It must not have been even half of what he went through. And then nothing.

Harry hugged her tightly as if trying to take her pain away until the whimpers stopped and the tears dried up. He pulled back and took her face in his hands kissing her head then resting his forehead on hers. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her top. The tears had subsided but the pain was still stabbing in her chest.

" _How long has it been?_ " She whispered.

"Three days."

" _Is everyone else okay?_ "

"Yeah. Everyone else is fine."

" _Did I dream them?_ "She nodded towards the door.

"No, they're real."

" _What_.." She began to ask another question but Harry cut her off.

"Shhh, look you need rest." He lifted a small bottle off the bedside table. She squinted and saw it was labelled ' _sleeping draught'._

" _No_." She shook her head. She didn't want to go back to sleep. Her dreams were black and it terrified her.

"It will help with the pain. I promise you, you are safe. Please trust me."

Trust. Would she had given him her trust so easily? She was in a house with Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy and his mother. Whatever this was.. it was not normal. " _Do you know what my middle name is?"_

He looked at her confused for a moment, opening his mouth to speak until the cogs started turning and he smiled.

"Jean. Your middle name is Jean. Your birthday is the 19th September. You, me and Ron... we're best friends. Ron's middle name is Billius. Me and Ron first met you on the Hogwarts express. You were helping Neville find his Toad. We lived in a tent for months searching for Horcrux's. You destroyed Helga Hufflepuff's cup. You broke my wand, you cut my hair, we..."

" _Okay... Okay. I'm sorry._ " She could feel her eyes welling up with tears. She felt guilty. She should have trusted him. This was Harry.

"Don't be sorry. I'm proud of you for checking." He looked into her eyes and she smiled. She wiped her eyes on her top and when she had finished he held the dark vial in front of her face again.

"I will stay with you until you wake up. I'll be here the whole time. I won't leave you."

He unstoppered the bottle and lifted it to her lips. She didn't want to drink it. She was stubborn. She wanted to stay awake and have him explain all this to her but she was tired from the tears and the pain in her leg and arm were getting worse.

" _You stay right here._ " She demanded and Harry nodded. She drank the liquorice flavoured liquid quickly and rested her head back against the pillow.

Harry got off the bed, moved the bedside table away from the mattress then with a flick of his wand he enlarged the bed to fit the extra space. He climbed in and pulled a blanket over both of them, her healing leg still sticking out of the covers. He rested his hand on her left hand on her stomach, careful not to touch her right arm.

"I could use a sleep anyway." He said smiling and kissing her forehead. She smiled to him and held his hand tighter until the sleeping draught took away the pain and her worries and her consciousness.

.x.

 **Sunday 15th November**

Hermione woke many hours later to gentle snoring in her ear. Harry lay next to her with his eyes tightly shut, mouth open, his breath ticking her face. She looked at the clock on the far wall. It read just after 5.30. There was a sun and moon on the clock and the sun was glowing. It must be 5.30 in the morning.

She tried to close her eyes and fall back to sleep but her mind was alert and going into overdrive thinking of all the questions she had for Harry. He leg was still suspended in front her but the pain now just a dull ache. She found she could move her right arm but it gave a twinge if she moved it too quickly. She shuffled trying to get comfortable but ended up waking the sleeping boy beside her.

She watched as his eyes flitted open and rested on her. He rubbed his hand over his face mumbling.

"What time is it?"

"A little after half five." She whispered. He moved to his side facing her fully, his head was resting on his arm tucked under his pillow. "Wheres my wand?" She asked.

"In the drawer. Do you want it?"

"No, not now."

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"No."

"I know. Silly question really."

She started up at the ceiling and released a long sigh.

"What's on your mind?"

"Everything..." She sighed again then turned back to him. "Did Malfoy help you find Nott?"

"Not exactly... Theo is here too."

"Theodore Nott?"

"Yeah." Harry responded.

"Is he on our side?" She questioned. There was obviously so much she had been kept in the dark about.

"Very much so."

"How long has he been helping?"

"Theo joined us as soon as the killings started after the War. He fled from his Father, sought out Ron of all people and joined us."

"He helped us capture his own Father?" Harry nodded slowly. This was unbelievable. He must have been very brave to leave his Father and betray his family. She only wondered what he had been through to push him over the edge...

"What about Malfoy?"

"Lucius was sent to Azkaban for thirty years. Lifetime ban of using magic. He probably won't ever leave. Not that I'm sad about that... Narcissa got a three year suspended sentence. No magic for six months. That was lifted three weeks ago and were lucky it was. You might not be in such a good shape without her..."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a stern glare. It was her ' _Really? You're bringing that up now_?' face.

"Draco also had a year suspended sentence. Three month magic ban. When they initially returned home they were attacked by Lestrange and the rest of them. Narcissa went to Andromeda for help, she contacted us and the rest is history."

Hermione was gobsmacked. "It's that easy? They're just on outside now?"

"No it hasn't been easy. Not one part has been easy... but were getting there slowly."

So much information had been kept from her. She felt annoyed and angry. It had been her and Ron and Harry for years, going this alone. Now she was being pushed out and kept away from it all. She was a target before and that never used to be a problem.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't allowed. Barely anyone knows."

"Who knows?" She asked.

Harry paused before speaking. "Ron, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Neville, Kingsley and a few other seniors."

"Barely anyone! Blimey Harry that's half of the Order." That was a kick in the gut. Ron knew too. Harry and Ron knew and she didn't. She looked at the ceiling again contemplating the past four months wondering about all the other information she hadn't been told.

"What happened to me?" She whispered. Lost in her own thoughts.

Harry took a deep breath. "You broke your leg when we jumped. The bone came through the skin hence the scar on your calf. Narcissa reset your bone and healed up the wound. It's healed but it's going to be sore for a few more days.

"Your arm was sliced with a diffindo spell. You lost a lot of blood but it was minor compared to your leg. Ginny patched that one up and Narcissa healed the wound again.

"You had concussion and minor abrasions from the falling debris but that's all been sorted now.

"Dean was also hit with a Diffindo. He was buried yesterday."

Tears filled her eyes and she continued to stare at the white ceiling. She focussed on the plaster peeling off where it met the wall.

"How did they find us?" She turned and look at Harry who had glossy eyes like her.

"We don't know." He sniffed. "We expect an imperious curse was used on one of us but we really don't know. We're working on it."

A few seconds of silence passed between them. Something had seriously gone wrong for someone to have given away a safe house. And now she was in another.

"How long before we can leave?"

"We won't be leaving... This is our new home for the time being."

"With them? Harry we can't stay here!" She didn't want to be here with them. They had hated her and she had hated them. How did he expect this was going to work?

"White Rabbit was our safe haven and now that's gone this is the safest place for us."

"What about the Burrow? Or Grimmauld place? I can go there, I can stay with Ron.."

"For the same reason we were placed into White Rabbit in the first place. They will be watched night and day by _The Ashes_. One sight of you and they will attack immediately. I can't even go there. We're enemy number one."

He was right. That didn't stop her from wanting to be around her friends right now rather than round two Slytherins that she had only bad memories of and a Slytherin Mother that despised the ground she walked on. And who had explicitly told her so many years ago.

"Harry... you called them Theo and Draco." She questioned.

He nodded.

"Are you friends?" She pressed.

"Not friends... allies you could call it."

"Any other bombshells your going to drop on me?"

"This one you might like... Neville lives here. His Grandmother passed away just after the War. He gave up the house to the Order to use as a safe hospital so he lives here now."

"Wow." At least she would see Neville. She missed him a lot. They had become close since the end of the War and then she had to go into a safe house. They kept in contact with letters but it wasn't the same as seeing him. "Does everyone get on?"

"I wouldn't call it that."

What would he call it then? Did he have to stop fights? Pull Neville and Draco apart before they killed each other? Was this the happy harmony she was being dragged into? "I don't like this Harry."

"You don't have to. But we have to deal with it."

"I'm not going to sit around like I did at the other safe house. You got to leave White Rabbit and help, so I'm going to do the same here. Use me Harry, please. I can't stay here with them doing nothing all day. If I'm going to be here you are going to keep me occupied."

He lifted himself up so he was resting his elbow on the bed and the palm of his hand on his cheek. "This place is the planning hub. The dining room is full of our plans, what we've found so far, houses we are watching, things like that. We can't very well keep you away from it when you live here, so yes, you can be involved."

"Does that mean I will get to see the others?"

"A few of them, the ones who know about this safe house."

This at least was a positive. She would not sit around and be useless. She would try to help. Not even for her own sanity, but for her future. And for Dean, who's future was cruelly ripped away from him. Their possible future together broken apart.

"Harry... I'm starving."

He chuckled at her then called out. "Kreacher."

A loud crack was heard echoing round the small room and making Hermione jump before she saw Kreacher standing next to the bed.

"Master Potter." He drawled out and bowed low.

"Kreacher, can you bring us a cup of tea each? And some crumpets?" He looked to Hermione for reassurance and she nodded. "With lots of butter and jam." She smiled warmly at Kreacher and he disappeared with another loud crack.

Suddenly the door burst open and in flew Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott wands outstretched in front of them. Hermione screamed and closed her eyes not knowing what was happening. She wished now she had said yes to her wand.

"We heard a bang." Draco asked panting slightly as he looked around the small room. His eyes rested on Harry and Hermione tucked under the covers and cocked an eyebrow.

"I think the banging was intentional..." Theo commented as he chuckled watching Harry go a shade of pink under their questioning eyes. Hermione opened her eyes to see the two boys now in the centre of the room, wands down by their sides.

Draco at least wore a t-shirt over his underwear but Theo only had on his boxer shorts. Hermione's eyes grew wide at the sight of his tanned chest and averted her eyes quickly to the bed covers feeling her face flush.

"Give it a rest guys. It was Kreacher, he's bringing us up breakfast." Said Harry sitting up and moving off the bed to scoot Hermione against the headboard.

"If I'd have known breakfast in bed was an option I would have joined you. Room for another?" Hermione looked up at Theo and he winked at her. She looked over at Harry and her eyes bulged at him. Draco smirked.

Harry turned to Theo giving him a questionable glare. Theo held his hands up in peace before Harry turned back and pulled Hermione too quickly up the bed, banging her head against the headboard.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry Hermione!"

"Get out of the way Potter, we don't need your clumsy arse making her worse."

Malfoy walked over to the bed and pushed Harry out of the way. He loosened the straps on the hoist holding her leg holding and slowly moved it lower until it was just hovering off the bed. He then turned to Hermione and started to tuck his arms under her back and legs.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hermione said taken aback at his forward nature. He carefully lifted her up the bed and put her down so her back was now resting against the headboard.

"Doing what Potter can't." He moved the pillow so it sat behind her back and re-adjusted the hoist so her leg was comfortable. A huff came out of her mouth and the words followed without thinking about what she was saying.

"Not too dirty for you?"

"Ha!" The exclamation came from Theo's mouth as he watched their exchange with wide eyes and a smirk.

Draco's hands stilled over the sling for a fraction of a second as he turned to her and scowled, taking in what she had just said. He turned back and finished adjusting the sling.

"Don't get too excited, Granger. It's not something I'm going to be making a habit of." He dropped his hands and turned towards the door storming past Theo who raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"Play nice now, children!" He said as he turned to watch Draco pass into the hallway. He turned back and looked solemnly at Hermione before tucking his wand in his boxer shorts. "It's good see you, Granger." He held her stare for a few seconds, winked again with a smile then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Harry looked over at her and gave a small grimace of a smile before Kreacher appeared with their breakfast.


	3. Willing Turncoats

**Monday** **16th November**

"Ready ?" Harry held the crutches in his hands and placed them by the side of her bed. She nodded and eased herself to the end of the bed. The pressure she was putting on her arm caused a dull ache but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Just take it easy okay." Harry said in a caring voice.

"Harry, I'll be fine it doesn't hurt that much anymore." She had been stuck in the room for another day and night before Narcissa had said it would be good for her to try to walk. She was thankful. She was bored out of her mind in that clinical room. She tried to use her legs to push herself off the bed and to stand on the floor but a stabbing pain ran through her calf making her fall back and cry out.

"Doesn't hurt that much ehy?" He said cocking an eyebrow at her and smiling.

"Oh shut up."

He moved his hands under her arms and lifted her slowly to her feet. She was careful not to put pressure on her left foot and use the right to balance. When she was standing and steady, she placed her left foot carefully on the floor.

"Can I have my wand?"

Harry picked it from the bedside table and she placed it into the pocket of her pyjama shorts.

"Make sure you keep your knee bent."

She looked over at the dark haired woman and nodded, still feeling uneasy about her being in the room with her. But she was here and she was helping... and being nice. So she would play nice too.

Harry passed her the crutches and she stuck them under both of her arms and took her first step.

"That's it, just go easy." Harry said from behind her as she walked towards Narcissa who was backing out of the door watching her closely.

"I'll show you to the kitchen."

She turned and watched as the woman turned right out of the door. Hermione followed after her slowly for the first few steps, careful to not put too much pressure on her leg but soon got the hang of it. She followed the tall woman right out of the room and down the white walled hallway.

She was in the last room along the hallway. Immediately opposite her room was a small sitting room with a fireplace and a soft looking sofa and armchairs. Her eyes widened at the bookcase crammed full of books. As she continued on the next room to her left was the dining room however as Harry had indicated, it was full of parchment covering the walls. She steered herself into the room before Harry put a hand on her waist.

"Hey. Breakfast first, then I show you around."

She huffed but turned away from the door, passing a staircase to her right and finding herself at the open door to the kitchen. It was a large kitchen, square in shape and the walls a soft olive green. She shuffled in on her crutches and saw Narcissa flicking her wand to boil the kettle. The work surfaces were on the far walls in the shape of a U and a large rectangle table was directly in front of her in the middle of the room.

Her eyes fell to the two boys sat at the table thankfully fully clothed this time. Draco was reading the paper and barely glanced at her as she entered the room. Theo on the other hand stood up and pulled out a chair for her opposite Draco.

"Here, Granger."

"Thank you." She sat down slowly then Harry took the crutches away from her and rested them behind the door before taking a seat next to her. Theo made his way back around the table and sat next to Draco.

Silence filled the room then. She didn't know what to say and it seems neither did they. Theo looked amused at the situation and sat back moving his gaze from Harry to Hermione and then to Draco who ignored his staring and shuffled in his seat.

Narcissa broke the silence. "I have to get back. But I will pop back to check on you later on this evening." She said to Hermione .

"I'm fine really." Hermione responded.

"Well if you are sure." She said with a muted tone. "I'll take my leave then." She placed a hand on Draco's shoulder as she walked by him. He turned and placed the paper on the table, then stood up and followed his mother out of a door to her left, leading out into the garden without a word.

Silence took hold of the room again. They heard the boil of the kettle and the click as it finished.

"Tea?" Harry asked placing a hand on hers. She nodded in response. Theo nodded too.

"Does Malfoy's Mother not live here?" She directed towards Harry. He moved around the table to the cupboard pulling out three mugs and picking tea bags out of the jar on the side.

"Narcissa lives with Andromeda and helps with Teddy. She was just here helping you until you got back on your feet."

"Foot." Theo interjected.

"What?" Hermione asked confused by his comment.

"Until you got back on your foot. As it was only one you broke."

"But I broke my leg?" She responded even more confused than before.

"Ignore me. It was an attempt at a terrible joke to break the ungodly tension in the room. I swear I won't make another joke again." He crossed his finger over his chest.

"Why do I not believe you?" Harry asked as he poured the water into the cups.

"I'm just trying to make Granger feel at ease."

At that moment Draco opened the back door and stepped inside. All eyes were on him as he sat back down and picked the paper up once more without a word to any of them.

"On the other hand that might be trickier than I first thought..." Theo quipped and sat back in his chair again watching Draco and thrumming his fingers on the wooden table.

She didnt know what to make of Theo. She hadn't had much interaction with him at Hogwarts. The little she knew of him, she knew he was a friend of Malfoys and that his Father was a Death Eater and a member of 'The Ashes.' She gulped, thinking of him sat across the table from her now, when six months ago he had been taking part in... in things she didn't want to imagine. Yet here he was, joking around. As if there was nothing wrong.

Then there was Malfoy. Who hadn't even looked at her. Granted she hadn't spoken to him but at least he could acknowledge her presence. He was obviously no happier with the situation than she was.

"Do you want a tea?" She heard Harry ask. She looked up and saw him nudge Draco on the arm. He turned round and nodded to him then turned back to his paper.

They sat in silence once more, listening to the clink of the spoon in the mugs as Harry stirred them. He placed a mug in front of Draco and then one in front of Theo before returning to pick up the two remaining mugs and walking round the table. He placed one in front of Hermione before he took his seat again.

"Thank you." She said quietly as she lifted the mug to her mouth.

"Is this about the time that we raise our cups and vow to be friends forever?" Theo said with a smile.

Draco dropped his paper on the table and stared at Theo. "Now isn't the time."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not about to start pretending everything is fine and that were all friends, and I'm sure neither is Granger. It's going to take time to.. adjust." He glanced her way then back to Theo.

"Yeah let's save _this_ for another day. She's been through enough." Harry responded.

"Excuse me!" The three of them turned to look at her. "I am in the room and I would appreciate you not talking as if I were not here. Or as if I am a fragile little bird."

"Exactly! She's a feisty Gryffindor Lion! What shall we toast to? New friends?" Theo said raising his tea into the air.

"Theo." Draco snapped.

"Hermione!" A familiar voice called out to her making her smile. She turned towards the door and saw the wide grin of Neville Longbottom shining down at her.

"Neville!" She tried to stand but before she could he had knelt down by her side and pulled her into a lung crushing hug. She responded just as tightly back.

"It's so good to see you!" He said muffled into her hair.

"Same." She said pulling back and getting a good look at him. He looked older and larger than the last time she saw him.

"I've been at my Grandma's old place for a few days and came as soon as I could. I'm sorry I'm not Ron or Ginny."

"Don't be silly." She smiled at him. He made her feel a million times better.

"How are you?" He asked earnestly gripping her hand. "They said you're healing well."

"I'm okay yeah."

"Good..." He lowered his voice then and lent in closer. "I couldn't believe it when I heard about Dean. Ginny said you... I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm so sorry."

Dean. He eyes filled with water as she looked into Neville's eyes. She couldn't speak or she would start crying. So she nodded as the silent tears fell from her eyes. He gripped her hand and pulled her into another crushing hug, pushing a sob from her lips that she tried to fight.

She heard the scrape of chairs on the floor and quiet steps. She looked beyond Neville's shoulder as saw Theo pass through the kitchen door followed by Draco. He caught her eye for a split second as he pulled the door shut behind him.

"Come on now." She said pulling back and sniffing loudly wiping her eyes on the jumper she had borrowed from Harry. "What's new?"

"I bought you some letters." He said lifting himself off the floor and pulling the bag from over his shoulder and onto the table in front of her.

"This is all letters?" The backpack looked like it was bursting at the seams.

"No. Two letters, one from Ron one from Ginny then some clothes and shoes Andromeda and Molly found. They may need shrinking to fit you but I'm sure you can handle that."

It just hit her that she had nothing. She was still wearing the pyjamas from that night. Thank Merlin someone had thought to repair them for her. She suspected it was Narcissa so made a mental note to thank her the next time she saw her. In fact it seemed she had a lot to thank her for. "Thank them for me will you?"

Neville nodded. "Bit of a shock when you came here then?"

"Baffling actually."

"It's just a case of getting used to them." Neville said resting his hand on her shoulder.

"It's this new Harry I need to get used to." She said with a smile waiting for Harry's response.

"What do you mean?" He questioned looking round Neville at her.

"You and them... Being civil."

"It wasn't always like that." Neville said moving round the table and taking Draco's vacated seat.

"I wouldn't expect it was." She said wondering just what had gone on.

"The first time Harry saw Draco he got into a fight with him."

"Really?" She turned to Harry with a questioning stare.

"Cheers Neville." Harry said sarcastically to their friend before looking back to her. "Remember when I said Ginny and I had an argument?"

"When I had to fix your black eye?"

"That was Draco." Harry stood up moving his way to the kitchen cupboards. "It was less hostile with Theo. He seems to joke his way out of situations."

"Yeah I get that." He seemed to be a very forthcoming to her, making jokes and generally being funny, but she didnt quite know how ti react to that yet.

"You'll be fine with Theo." Neville said. "Draco is the hard nut to crack."

"I don't plan on cracking any nuts with him."

"You should try." Harry urged through a mouthful of biscuit.

"What does Ron think to you being so friendly with them?"

He swallowed and held up his hand. "Were not friends."

"That wasn't my question." She said crossing her arms over her chest. She watched him as he shoved another biscuit into his mouth and leant back against the counter. No doubt choosing his words carefully.

He finished his biscuit. "He and Theo play chess together."

That still wasn't an answer to her question but she ignored it and pressed on. "And Malfoy?"

He paused again then spoke. "They have a continued mutual agreement not to spent too long in each others company."

.x.

After another cup of tea and some toast Harry lead Hermione into the dining room and guided her sit on one on the chairs at the side of the room. On the wall opposite the door were a serious of maps with red and green blots dotted around.

"Red dots mark places we have seen any Ashes members enter more than once. They are being watched by Aurors 24/7. Green dots show places Theo and Draco have informed us of that either are or had been used by the Death Eaters. The Order members are watching those." Harry finished.

"Why is the Ministry letting the Order help so much?"

"Kingsley is Acting Minister of Magic for the time being. The Wizengamot agree with him so were joining forces." Neville said.

Harry continued. "The Ministry still isn't one hundred percent safe. There may still be people Voldemort sympathisers there so we need to be careful. The Ministry have signed off for Aurors to meet at Headquarters. This board mirrors one at Andromeda's and anything added is replicated on the other."

"Sensible. What about that map." She nodded to the map on the wall to the left with a big red cross scribbled from one side to another.

"That was the map of the Gloucestershire house Theo helped us find. That's where we found his Father and the five other recruits." Said Neville.

"Have they talked yet?"

"Not yet." Harry responded.

"And that one?" She pointed to one highlighted in a soft yellow glow.

"That's a map of a house in Cornwall. It's an old Black family holiday home. Deserted for years but families in the area have informed us of recent activity so its on high alert."

"If we have Draco and Narcissa why would The Ashes use it? Surely it's stupid of them to use that house. It's obvious."

"They don't know they are helping us. After they attacked the Manor they think they went into hiding abroad. We sent rumours round saying they had fled to Italy to lay low and that the Ministry are unaware of their whereabouts. Plus, it's not noted on their asset records so the Ministry shouldn't have any clue about it." Harry smiled at her.

"But Draco and Narcissa do..."

"Exactly. Hence why we now know." Harry turned back to the wall and studied the maps. She didnt understand them all yet, but she would bring herself up to speed within a day or so and find something useful she could do.

"What about Theo?" She asked.

"They all think he's dead." Neville responded.

"Bloody morbid isn't it." Theo said walking into the room and taking a seat next to Hermione.

"I'm sorry.." She didnt know what to say. To have your whole family thinking your were dead must have been a struggle for him. Even if he went against his Father there must have been someone in his family who he cared about. And for them to think he was dead? Well that must have been a heavy weight to bear.

"Oh it's fine. I'd rather that than the wrath of my Father thinking I was a traitor and sending half of Voldemorts' finest after me." There it was, another joke. Turning a sad situation into a positive. She thought then that she might rather enjoy his company in the future. At least her made her smile.

"Now that's a worrying thought." Draco said as he stepped into the room and rested his body against the door frame. Unlike Theo, Draco seemed to radiate negative energy. She wouldn't enjoy his company that was for sure.

She looked at the four men with her in the room. Only they weren't men. They were still boys. They had all been part of a fight they were too young for. Whether or not they were on the same side at the time was nothing to-do with it. It was the fact that they had already fought one war. Now it seems they were having to do it again. "I can't believe they are letting you be so involved. You're barely eighteen, all of you."

"Yes but numbers are low." Harry said. "To be an Auror is a lengthy process and years of work. The Order bump up the numbers dramatically and we have inside knowledge they could only dream of after burying their heads in the sand for so long."

"Exactly. They were pretty late to jump on the 'Voldemort's back' bandwagon." Neville jibed.

"Point is, they need us." Harry said.

"And they need us." Theo jumped in.

"And were willing." Draco concluded, his eyes darting to hers before moving back to Harry.

.x.

 **Shout out to _sassanech_ who seems to be reviewing every story l have so thank you! Loads of appreciation being sent your way!** **T** **hank you to everyone else for the reviews too! I love to hear your reactions to each chapter.**

 **Lullaby Tales: As it was 5.30am I was going for ' _Theo and Draco heard a bang and got up in what they wore to sleep,'_ hence the boxer shorts...**

 **So far I have a rough plan and atleast nine chapters written, all between 2 and 4k each so it might turn out to be a long one! Will try to add a new chapter every week so stick around :)**

 **Give me a follow on tumblr:** **Unicornvine**


	4. Breaking Bread

**Tuesday** **17th November**

"What are you doing?" Harry walked into the planning room and hovered over her shoulder. She was eyeing up a clear plastic bag with white, blank square cards in them. The plastic bag was attached to the wall with a pin. They looked positively muggle.

"What are these?" She flicked the bag with her finger, watching it slap against the wall and resume its frozen position on the wall.

"We found them on Nott." Harry responded.

"Why would he carry blank cards around?"

He shrugged.

"You have no idea what they are for?" Hermione asked.

"No."

"You've checked them over?"

"Yeah."

"Invisible ink charms?"

"Yeah."

"Protection charms, passwords.." She searched her mind for other spells, charms.

"Nothing."

Confusion riddled her face. They looked like something bought out of a stationary shop in Muggle London. The kind that would carry memos or appointment reminders. Why would a wizard carry these around and not parchment? And why would a wizard like Nott need these?

"He wouldn't carry them for no reason." She spoke out loud but really it was an internal statement. Trying hard to think of reasons why.

"And yet they do." Harry sighed and pushed his hands into his pockets.

"Can I take a look at them?" She asked. Even if it came to nothing it gave her something to do.

"Don't you want to rest? You woke up two days ago."

"Spending one day in that room was bad enough. I need something to occupy my mind."

"You need time to accept the situation." Harry said softly. She turned around looking at him.

"What situation?"

"This. Here. Dean."

"I know he's dead Harry." She turned to face the wall and the blank cards again.

"I just think you need some time."

Time. That's what they didnt have. Time was a commodity. Time was given and time was taken away. Just as Dean had been taken away from her.

"To what?" She said sadly. "To Mourn? Grieve? Is that what I'm supposed to do?" Tears prickled her eyes and her hands started shaking.

He stroked her arm lovingly and tilted his head to the side. Pity. Plastered all over his face. "Yes. You don't have to be so strong all the time."

She didn't want his pity. She wanted him to leave her alone and let her move on. "I'm not strong Harry!" She didnt mean for it to come out as a shout, but her hands were shaking and she was angry and upset. "My body feels like its missing something, my heart like its been ripped open and stamped on."

She clutched her hand to her chest as warm tears spilled down her cheeks again. Her throat dry. "Those people took Dean away from me and away from his future and away from any kind of future we may have had together! And I'm so weak because this is what I feel like all day every day!"

He pulled her into a hug and whispered apologies in her ear, soothing her until her cries stopped. She pulled back from him and wiped her eyes on her jumper. He was trying to help. Being a concerned friend but she needed this. Needed an excuse not to think about him.

"I'm scared I'm going to get sucked into darkness if I don't occupy myself with something so excuse me if I'm trying. I don't want to let that happen. There are important things to do, like helping figure all this out."

She turned to the wall and pulled the blank cards from their place on the wall. "Just let me do this Harry. This is what I need."

.x.

She had settled into an armchair in the living room with six books she thought would be helpful before setting to work.

After an hour or so she tore her eyes away from the books and opened her letters from Ron and Ginny. Ginny's was short and sweet saying she would come as soon as she got access granted and to keep her chin up. Ron's was longer.

 _So glad you are okay. Had been going out of my mind until I heard from Harry. Trying to get you moved as soon as possible. Anywhere must be better than there. Coming Wednesday with Charlie and Dad._

 _Miss you, H_.

 _Love_ _Ron_.

Wednesday, that was tomorrow. She was aching to see Ron. It couldn't come soon enough.

There was a knock on the door and she looked over to see Theo hovering.

"Mind if I come in?"

She could use a distraction. She tucked the letters into one of the books and placed it on the arm of the sofa. "Of course not."

He walked in and sat down in one of the worn, striped armchairs opposite her. He was wearing a grey woolly jumper and slippers. He looked relaxed.

"What are you doing?" He asked glancing over the books resting on the arm of the chair and on the floor.

"Researching these." She held up the cards to show him.

"Yeah. Odd right?"

"You have no idea what they are?"

"No. They look Muggle."

"They are. That's the weird thing."

She shuffled the cards in between her hands. There were three in total. All the same size, same shape and all blank. And they had been found on the Father of the boy sat opposite her. A million questions buzzed round her head. So she picked delicately before she spoke.

"Can I ask why you left?"

"Ugh." Theo crossed his arms over his chest and sat back into the chair, resting his left foot on his right knee. He stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry." She said quickly. "I know it's a personal question."

"Its not that... its just that there isn't just one reason." He looked down at her and sighed.

She didnt say anything more. Just waited for him to speak, if he would.

"You have a Father?" He said after sometime.

She nodded.

"And you love him, right?"

She nodded again.

"You love him and you look up to him."

It wasn't a question that time. She watched him carefully. He was picking at his finger nails and talking to his hands.

"Then you grow up and you realise they aren't who you thought they were."

He paused for a few moments and shook his head. "They pull you into a world you don't want to be part of but you do it anyway because you love him and you want to make him proud. But that love makes you do stuff that defies every fibre of your being."

He looked up at her his eyes glossy with the first signs of tears. "Stuff that makes your skin crawl and wonder whether you're still a good person because you hate doing it.. yet you still do it."

He paused again, but she didn't interrupt. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hands and sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then you think why would love make you do this? Why would someone you love push you into doing things that repulse you? Then when you tell them your scared and you don't want to do it anymore they force you to do it anyway."

She felt tears prickle her own eyes. It was the most honest thing anyone had said to her. This was still War. Not a fairytale in a safe house. Theo's Father, if he knew he was still alive would probably hunt him down and kill him, just as he had said yesterday. Yet here was this young lad, eighteen and willing to take on his family to fight against what he believed was evil.

"That's no kind of love that I want." Theo finished.

He was looking back at the ceiling biting his lip. He had left his Father, his whole family and his old life behind to be here. She wondered at how lonely he might be. He had no one but Draco from his old life. Maybe that's why he used the humour. A defence mechanism. And it must take a lot to be open with people.

"Thank you, for being honest with me."

"There's nothing to hide anymore." He gave her a wry smile which she returned. "I don't know why I told you all that."

She shrugged her shoulders. "You're very brave." It hit her quickly, Deans words reverberating round her head. Dean. Her heart ached and the ball at the back of her throat got stuck got thinking of their last day. When they had kissed and touched and laughed together until the happiness was wrenched away, leaving her with heartache and pain.

"I know. People love a bad boy turned good with daddy issues."

It was a joke and she didnt laugh. Was she supposed to laugh? When she still felt so much pain? Was she allowed to be happy when it was still so fresh?

"How's it working for you?" She managed.

"Pretty badly if I'm honest." He looked at her closely and she looked to her hands. "Is it doing anything for you?" He pushed leaning forward in his chair and giving her another big smile.

She humoured him and smiled then shook her head. "Not at all."

"Am I interrupting?" Draco was stood in the doorway watching their exchange, eyebrow raised and arms crossed over his black jumper.

"Come join us! I'm telling the tale of how I defected whilst tying to make Granger fall madly in love with me." Theo joked.

"That's a long shot. Given you have the face of a goblin." He didn't move from the doorway.

"That's very narrow minded." Hermione started. "Thinking attraction is based on looks alone." She tried to make it sound light hearted.

"It's animal instinct. You are initially attracted to someone because of the way they look." He was looking at Theo but talking to her. Something she found very annoying.

"What if the person is attractive on the outside but their insides are unattractive?"

"You're initial reaction is still lust. Getting to know them then changes your perception." He glanced her way then back to Theo.

"Unless you've gone to school with them for years and know exactly what they are like." Ouch. Low blow Hermione.

"Whoaaa. See I told you! Feisty! I'm going to have my hands full with you." Theo winked at her and Draco walked out of the room.

"I shouldn't have said that." That was the second time she had said something to him when he had done nothing to her. It seemed it was a knee jerk reaction whenever she was around him.

"I'm surprised you haven't said worse." Theo commented.

"I surprise myself. It's all new to me. Seeing Harry friendly with you both. More with Draco I have to admit. It's something I never thought possible."

"You heard about their fight?"

"Neville told me yesterday."

"You didn't know about us before?" Theo asked.

"No. Dean and I... well it was just us two really. They didn't tell us anything. We were just in our own bubble." A warm protective bubble.

"How long were you there for?"

"Four months. Dean arrived a few weeks after."

"Were you close?"

"Me and Dean?" She didnt know how to answer his question. "I'd known him for eight years, then we were pushed into _White Rabbit_. He was amazing and he was there for me and I was for him so yes, we were close. Very much so."

 _Was_ there for me. We _were_ close.

"And I hate the fact that I'm talking about him in the past tense."

The tears fell freely then. Running down her cheeks and falling from her chin onto the books. She put her head in her hands and silently cried not caring Theo was there to see her. To see her breakdown.

It was sometime before the tears dried up. She wiped her eyes on her cardigan sleeves and sniffed loudly. She saw Theo had his own head in hands, sat forward in the chair, elbows resting on his knees.

"I'm sorry. It just catches me."

He sniffed himself and wiped his own eyes. "I'm sorry that I was ever a part of them, of the people that took him away from you. That took so many people away from you."

"You've made a conscious decision to be here. If it weren't for you they could have taken many more. You choices have saved people Theo. Please remember that."

Theo nodded and lent forward resting his elbows on his knees. A few moments of silence passed between them. A realisation of just what the other had lost.

"He's not that bad you know." Theo said quietly after some time. "Once you get past his pompous arsehole attitude."

"And his blood prejudice?" She asked.

"Pure blood families are built on tradition and values, but we're a new generation. Sculpted by old traditions but with a voice of our own. He wouldn't be here if he thought that mattered." Theo gave her a long look, as if trying to make her understand.

"What about you?"

"I choose to see people, not blood."

Theo was turning out to be big surprise to her. She smiled at him and nodded. After a few moments she picked up her book and continued reading where she had left off. Theo stayed in the room with her, closing his eyes and sitting back in the armchair.

He was making a big effort to talk to her, to make her feel comfortable. She was thrown in at the deep end and he was helping her swim, slowly. She had to make a conscious effort with him and everyone in the house, meaning Draco Malfoy too.

"Maybe I can make dinner tonight." She said into the silence of the room.

"For what?" Theo turned his head her way and opened his eyes.

"I don't know... to make an effort..."

"You're making an effort with me." He smiled.

She shrugged. "Maybe so, but I haven't with _him_."

"You don't owe him anything. Or me. But I won't say no." He turned his head back and closed his eyes. "I'm sick of the sight of soup."

.x.

She struggled around the kitchen for an hour or so that evening. Theo hung around and watched occasionally asking if he could help. She eventually let him slice the onions and laughed when he started crying.

"What kind of hell is this!?" He called out whilst laughing himself. They only stopped laughing when Draco came into the kitchen and joined them.

"Have you never chopped an onion before?" She asked, aware of the tension the blonde had just created.

"Obviously not otherwise would not have said yes to this!" Theo rubbed his eyes furiously with a tea towel.

"You look ridiculous." Draco had walked in bringing the tension with him as always.

"Really? Here's me thinking ladies liked men that can cry." Draco smirked and sat down next to him.

"What are you making again, apart from me suffer?" Theo jibed.

"It's just Spaghetti Bolognese, ready in about half an hour or so."

She heard a small shuffle and saw Draco wince in pain, glaring at Theo. "Do you need a hand?" He asked in a strained voice. Still throwing daggers at the dark haired man sat next to him.

"I think we're okay." She turned back to the hob stirring the meat in the pan. "But thank you." She said hurriedly. It was a small thanks, but it was a start at least.

"So do you know where we are?" She asked as she took the freshly sliced onions away from Theo and placed them with the meat in the pan.

"In the kitchen." Theo said dripping with sarcasm.

Draco rubbed his forehead. "Merlin, Theo give us five minutes." Theo stuck his middle finger up at Draco.

"I mean in the Country. Where are we?"

"Shropshire." Theo answered.

"Where in Shropshire?"

"Pulverbatch." Theo answered again.

"Never heard of it." She mused pouring chopped tomatoes into the pan.

"Small town, muggle, a pub and a few shops." Theo added. "Very rural. Not much around. Lots of hills. Rocks."

"Do you go into the town?"

"We go maybe once a week for food. That's about it." Draco answered again.

"Well, I do. Draco stands out too much what with all that blonde hair."

"I charmed it last time." He said running a hand through the locks, a few strands falling over his moody grey eyes.

"And it made you look weird." Draco stuck his finger up at Theo this time and it made Hermione smile.

Draco turned to her and saw her smile, so she turned away quickly to the cupboard and pulled out some basil. "I don't suppose they would let me go."

"You're not a prisoner." Theo stated. "It's so Muggle no one would look for us here. Just use a glamour charm if you're worried. Change your hair colour like Draco did."

"I might... we didn't have an outside space before."

"I'll show you the garden after we eat?" Theo rushed. She saw Draco roll his eyes.

"Thanks. And there's a pub?"

"Yes." Draco said.

Theo rubbed his hands together. "I like where this conversation is going!" She smiled at his comment and caught Draco's eye again. She saw a slight smile at the corner of his mouth before she turned back around to finish off the dinner.


	5. Watchers

**Wednesday** **18th November**

The next morning her leg was healed enough to lose the crutches and manage the stairs so Neville helped her move to a bedroom upstairs. As they got to the top of the landing, Neville nodded in the direction of the door in front of them.

"Bathroom. Shared I'm afraid." They turned right and followed the landing until he pointed to his left.

"Theo's room."

A few more steps and another nod to the left.

"Draco's room."

And they stopped.

"Me and Harry are on the third floor." He pointed to the stairs in front of them the pointed to the door to their right.

"This is you."

She grabbed the handle and pushed the door. She stepped into a pale green room with flowery yellow, white and green curtains and double bed covered in white bedspread.

"Its not much but I tried to make it as nice as possible for you."

"You did this?" She asked with a smile.

"Took some stuff from my grandmas old place. It's a bit dated but doesn't look too bad."

"It's lovely. Thank you."

After Neville left she settled the small amount of possessions she had into the drawers by the bed and placed her shrunken second hand clothes in the wardrobe then sat on the bed and gave herself a few minutes.

The last double bed she was in, she was in it with Dean. She remembered the way his fingers had caressed her hair as they had kissed, how his soft, full lips had kissed from her neck to her thighs and how he had made her see stars as she came. She allowed a few silent tears to fall from her cheeks. It felt like that's all she had been doing the past few days. Crying for him.

She would never feel his touch, or kiss his lips, or feel his arms surround her waist, or talk to him or laugh with him or cry with him. She suddenly felt alone and he was the only person she wanted to talk to. He would have known what to say.

She straightened herself out after a few minutes, wiped her eyes, took a deep breath and made for the door. Just as she opened her door, Draco opened his bedroom door opposite. He was standing in his underwear, no t-shirt, holding a towel and his clothes in his arms. His eyes widened when he saw her, and pulled the door quickly behind him.

He nodded and strode past Theo's room to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

She scolded herself for watching him walk away and staring at his back, dotted with scars. She shook her head and turned down the landing, heading downstairs.

.x.

Just after the five of them had finished their lunch, a loud crack was heard coming from the garden. Immediately the four boys jumped up, wands drawn towards the back door. Neville was first to move across the kitchen pulling open the door.

Over Neville's shoulder she could see the Weasley red hair of Ron, Arthur and Charlie bouncing towards her across the lawn. She stood up and moved towards the door but Harry held her arm. She watched as the guys in the room tensed and waited until they stepped onto the patio before lowering their wands and relaxing back into their chairs.

"Nice to see you again guys," Neville said lowering his wand, "Come on in."

Ron pushed though the door first, nodding to Draco and clapping Neville on the back before running towards Hermione. Her arms wrapped round his neck, his arms round her waist as he lifted her off the floor and gripped her tightly.

"I was so worried about you." He muffled into her hair.

"I've missed you so much." She said as he let her down carefully and kissed her forehead.

"Are you okay? Not too bad here?"

"Cheers Ron." Theo said giving him a scowl.

"I didn't mean it like _that_." He said to Theo. "I mean how are you getting on?" He directed this to her.

"Fine." She watched his eyes flick to Draco. His smile lost.

"Hermione?" She turned to the other Weasley brother behind Ron and gave him a smile.

"Charlie, It's good to see you."

"You too. It's been a long time."

The last time she had seen his was in the great hall after the battle of Hogwarts. He had been covered in cuts and bruises yet today he was as clean as anything. He had a few feint scars over his freckled face and working in Romania had given him a healthy tan, as if all his freckles had merged.

"It has... Arthur!" She moved round Ron slowly and gave Arthur a quick hug.

"Hermione." He said warmly. "Not to burst the reunion too soon but I need to speak to the boys. Can I leave you with Charlie for a bit?"

"It sounds very secretive." She said, not wanting to feel left out of any more important information.

"We'll be five minutes." Before she could say anything else he ushered the five men out of the room. Neville was last out and closed the door behind him giving her a smile before the handle clicked shut.

"So.. do you want something to drink?" She turned to Charlie who pulled out a seat at the far end of the table, the chair scraping noisily against the tiled floor.

"Coffee?"

"Sure, milk and sugar?"

"Yes please."

She flicked the kettle on and settled her hip against the counter facing him.

"How's the rest of your family? I haven't seen them for a while ."

"They're well thanks. We had a request from Ginny to come but the less people we bring the better at the moment."

She pulled two mugs down from the cupboard and put spoonful of coffee in Charlie's cup whilst picking a tea bag out if the pot and placing it into hers

"How long have you been back?"

"Only one month. I'm needed more here than I am in Romania at the moment so I'll be here for some time."

"That's good." She gave him a small smile. The kettle clicked and she poured the freshly boiled water into their cups.

"How are you getting on, since White Rabbit? You look like you've healed well."

"You were there?"

"Yeah. We all were."

"I didn't know."

"Well you weren't conscious at the time."

"No I suppose not."

"I Apparated you here, then handed over to Narcissa and Ginny. You were in a bad way."

She hadn't asked harry exactly what happened and a part of her didnt want to know. For Charlie to comment... it must have been worse than she thought and she felt bad for snapping at Harry the day before. "So I've been told. I suppose I'm indebted to you now."

She placed the steaming of coffee on the table in front of Charlie and he looked up at her from his seat.

"You look good..." He said to her, staring at her face. She knitted her brows in confusion and he tore his eyes away to his drink. "I mean I was glad to her that you were alright. You gave us a scare."

"Thank you..." She pulled out the chair next to him and sat down with her tea.

"Look I might be around here a bit more. They asked me to be a Watcher, get the guys up to speed with plans."

"Well it's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Good."

She looked over at him again. His bright blue eyes were scanning her face as Ron pushed open the door and walked back in, Arthur and the other boys following behind him.

"What's the big secret then?" She asked to the room.

"They need extra manpower, just watching some houses." Arthur responded.

"Can't I be involved?" She asked.

"You're still healing, but once you're up to speed we can use you." Ron replied.

"Up to speed?" She questioned.

"You need a run down of protocol if anything goes wrong, what to do." Charlie said.

"Oh."

He continued. "I'll be back next week to give you a briefing and teach you a few additional bits then we can get you started."

"Okay. So I'll be here on my own while they're gone?"

"They will be rotated." Charlie said.

"Me, Theo and Neville. Then Harry, Draco and Bill. Twelve hour watches." Ron clarified.

"How long for?"

Harry shrugged, "A couple of days, a week, were not sure yet. Until we find something."

.x.

The three Weasley's stayed for an hour. She half begged for Ron to stay longer but they couldn't. He, Theo and Neville were on the first shift at 5am the next morning so he had to go prepare and get some rest.

Ron and Arthur bid her farewell with another big hug and Charlie shook her hand with a stare and a smile that made her cheeks heat up. Theo and Draco were staring at her face as she sat down, she hoped she hadn't blushed too much. After they left, Theo and Neville went upstairs to pack for their first watch leaving Harry, Draco and herself in the kitchen.

"Charlie's a nice guy." Harry said.

"Yeah. I've only met him a few times." Hermione responded remembering the way Charlie had smiled at her. "Where is this house your going to be watching?"

"Down South. A little town in Hampshire called Greatham."

"Why are you watching it?"

"Goyle Senior." Harry said with a glance over to Draco. Draco saw the look Harry gave him and glanced to Hermione who looked at Harry.

"He's been there?" Hermione asked to Harry.

"Followed by an Auror three days ago. Stayed their for a few hours then left." Harry said.

"Anyone else seen?"

"No. Not since. Hence the Ministry handing it over to us."

Harry nudged Draco on the arm with his elbow. "Thanks for helping."

"I do what I'm told." Draco said flatly drumming his fingers on the table.

"You actually volunteered." Harry reminded him.

"Yes, well I never really liked him. Greg was a good guy, but his Father is... not a nice man." He frowned at the wooden table.

Hermione gave a short huff. "Funny that theme runs in families of Death Eaters."

If looks could kill, she would be dead. His jaw was set in a firm line teeth clenched the same as his fist on the table. His grey eyes looked angry as they stared at her. She stared back. Not out of defiance but because she had never noticed how unusual his eyes were before. She had never had cause to stare at him, or his eyes but now she had, she found it hard to look away. They had flecks of pale blue in them and she thought they looked like a stormy sky.

His face changed then- confusion? Then he blinked quickly and averted his gaze back to the table opening his fist out and stretching his fingers. Harry looked pale watching the seconds tick by and the silence between them and her words.

Draco shuffled in his seat and kept his gaze on the table. "Actually for Pucey, it was his Mother. She's fucking evil. Finnegus was a decent guy."

"Was?" Harry asked.

"She killed him."

Hermione's mouth fell open. "She killed her own husband?"

"People in War do terrible things, Granger." He glanced at her again before returning his gaze to the table one more. He picked a knot of wood with his fingers.

"I think I'm going to go and read for a bit. Excuse me." She pushed her chair back and Draco followed suit, being a gentleman standing for her. She looked at him confused for a few seconds before he hurriedly picked up his cup and moved it to the sink, avoiding her gaze.

"Force of habit. I was raised well."

Harry smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and walked slowly from the room. She could hear Harry say something to Draco but not exactly what it was. All she heard from him in response was, _Fuck off Potter,_ before she turned into the living room and settled herself on the sofa once more.

.x.

"Thanks for the food." Theo rested his body against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest. "You need to teach me sometime. In case one day you leave us and were forced back to toast and soup."

"Don't worry about it. Until I'm ready it's really all I'm good for so..."

"Don't think of it that way." He shook his head.

"Even so..." She shrugged.

"I'm heading up. Me and Nev are out early so... I'll see you tomorrow night."

"I hope it goes well."

He smiled and pulled himself off the doorframe.

"Night, Granger."

"Theo?" He stilled in the doorway. "Please call me Hermione."

"Night Hermione. Merlin, that sounds weird." He screwed up his face and laughed.

She looked back down to her book and scanned the page.

She heard Theo's voice from the hallway. "Night mate."

She looked up and saw Theo pass Draco in the hall as he made his way upstairs. Draco followed his retreating form with his eyes then looked to Hermione. She looked down at the book in her hand not wanting to welcome a conversation with him. When she looked up again she breathed a sigh of relief. He was gone.

 **.x.**

 ** _Cindyrainyday_ and _alice96t_ \- this chapter goes out to you guys for your lovely reviews**!

 **So excited for the future of this fic and I hope you are too. I know it's a slow burn Dramione but their relationship isn't an easy one so it's going to take some time, but I really hope you stick with me!**


	6. First Watch

**Thursday 19th November**

She heard rustling.

She was aware she was in a new room but only when her eyes adjusted to her surroundings did she remember she was in _Blackgate_ and she took deep breaths to calm her eratic heartbeat. This was her new home and not a cellar, a dungeon. She was safe.

Quiet voices filled the landing outside her room as she tried to fall back off to sleep. It was early, still dark as she peaked round her curtains. She was awake now, adrenaline from hearing the initial noises alerting her senses. She got out of bed and slipped on her nightgown; recently transfigured from an old blanket she has found in the room; and slowly turned the handle of her door, wand outstretched, just in case.

As her eyes adjusted to the lamp on the wall, she saw Neville resting on the doorframe of Theo's room talking to him quietly from the door. He yawned widely but turned when he saw her out of the corner of his eye.

"I tried to be quiet." He whispered with a sorry look on his face.

"I don't sleep well anyway. What time is it?" She whispered back, stepping towards him.

"Half four, go back to bed."

"I'm awake now. Do you want me to make you some food?"

"No I made some sarnies last night."

Draco's door opened and he walked out rubbing his face with his hand. "What time is it?" He didnt bother to whisper.

"Half four." She responded quietly.

"Ready?" Theo asked appearing in the doorway. "Ah! A leaving party. Come to give me a kiss goodbye?" He puckered his lips towards Draco.

Draco rubbed his face in his hands again with an exasperated expression. "It's too early for your shit, Theo."

"We need to go." Neville said leading the way down the stairs.

"I'll walk you out." Hermione whispered as she followed the boys. She heard footsteps behind her and assumed Draco was coming too. They reached the back door. Theo gave her a smile and Draco a nod before unlocking the door with a flick of his wand and stepping out. Neville pulled her in for a quick hug, nodded to Draco and followed Theo into the dull morning light.

Hermione watched as Neville and Theo walked to the boundary of the garden, Theo clutched Neville's arm and they spun away into the dawn.

Hermione watched the space they had just Apparated from for a few seconds before she turned and saw Draco right behind her. She side stepped him to move towards the kettle, picked it up and took it to the sink to fill up before putting it to boil.

"Not tired?" Draco questioned from the back door before locking it behind them.

"I'm awake now." She shrugged. "Tea?" She asked with a yawn.

"Sure."

As she went for the handle to the cupboard her dressing gown fell around her elbow. Draco's eyes immediately fell on the scar on her arm.

"Actually... Im tired." He practically ran from the room. Maybe he had forgotten what she was in his sleepy state. Seeing her scar had obviously jolted him back into his old self, not being able to bear being around her.

.x.

Hermione only saw Harry briefly that day when he came down for breakfast at around eight that morning, then he went off to meet Arthur and Charlie at Headquarters. Draco came down at ten, made a coffee and toast then excused himself quickly, retreating back to his room.

So she was alone, again. She spent the day in the planning room, going over the maps and files scattered over the wall. So far nine members of The Ashes had been caught and were being held at the Ministry, Nott being the only Senior members. The others were young aged nineteen to twenty-one. A few names Hermione vaguely recognised from Hogwarts but no one that stuck out.

A stack of old Daily Prophet papers were left on the table so she leafed through the headlines, seeing what she had missed. A headline caught her eyes.

 _Lestrage spotted in Shrewsbury_

Shrewsbury was in Shropshire. And she was currently residing in Shropshire at this safe house. Coincidence? Maybe, but it worried her anyway. She searched the table, flicking through map after map of UK counties, finally finding a map of Shropshire.

She located Shrewsbury easily, one of the largest towns in the county then located Pulverbatch. It looked to be around ten miles away. Ten miles between their safe house and a sighting of Lestrange. Panic started to set in. Why would he be in Shrewsbury? What was so special about that town?

She went into the living room and scoured the bookshelf until she found the one she was looking for.

Magical dwellings in the 21st Century

She scanned the contents for a mention of Shrewsbury but nothing showed. She flicked through the pages hoping for some sort of mention of the town but nothing. Back to the bookshelf she found another book.

Magical dwellings of the 20th Century

Table of contents, nothing. Page by page she turned scanning for any S's in the text until she found something of interest.

 _Picklescott_ _, Shropshire._ _Picklescott_ _a village located in Shropshire, was home to the Pure-Blood Carribald family until 1897 when the family were attacked by an unknown intruder in their home. Mother; Marigom, Father; Reginus and Son Briand lost their lives however their youngest daughter, salvaged from the house went to live with her Aunt and Uncle at the Trengwainton Estate in Conrwall belonging to the Bathsuselow family._ _The House in Picklescott was bought by a Muggle family in the following year and the hamlet has ceased to hold any magical families to date._

Not Shrewsbury itself... but it was certainly in Shropshire. She took the book back into the planning room and found Picklescott on the map. It must have been only a few miles from Pulverbatch. She looked at the date on the Daily prophet. 24th October 1998. It was less than two weeks ago. Chills ran down her spine. If Picklescott was the only magical connection to the Shrewsbury area then why was Lestrange here? She resorted back to the cramped bookshelf in the living room to see if there was a book that could provide the answers instead.

 _Magical families 1900 – 1950_ was of no use. Not mentioning the Carribald name once. The Bathsuselow family on the other hand had a long segment in the book.

 _Father: Romulus Bathsuselow_

 _Mother: Agatha Bathsuselow (nee Grathaum)_

S _on's: Mathius; Wed to Shelley Kellows Sept. 1915_

 _Markius_ _' Wed to Helena Brumpt Apr. 1919_ _Maeron: Unmarried_

 _Daughter: Agatina; Wed to Bron Merrithon Feb. 1927_

No mention of the Carribald girl anywhere. It seems as if she had disappeared off the Magical families list. Dead End. So what linked Rodolphus Lestrange the house in Picklescott? – she thought.

"Draco." She whispered. Rodolphus was his Uncle. He may be able to help with the missing pieces. She groaned at the thought, their exchanges hadn't exactly gone successfully and his determination to avoid her seemed very clear today. But she was punchy if not anything else, so she grabbed the two books and went upstairs to his room.

She faltered when she got to his door but took a deep breath and knocked. A few seconds went past and she heard him shuffle inside before the door swung open and he filled the doorway with his large frame.

'Hi." She said. "I need your help."

"What help?" He questioned with a frown on his face.

"I need to know everything you know about the Lestrange family tree."

"Why?" His frown deepened.

"Your Uncle was spotted in Shrewsbury a few weeks ago which is close to here..."

"He's not my Uncle." He cut in quickly.

She was confused. "But he was married to your Aunt?"

"I chose not to think of either of them as family." _Ah_ , she thought - _denial at its finest._

"Okay… well after I saw the paper I started to look for reasons why he might be in Shrewsbury. It really doesn't hold any magical families or monuments or anything like that. Then I found this." She held up the Magical Dwellings book to him and watched as he read the front cover. "Page two hundred and forty-three." She nodded at him to turn to the page. He huffed but obliged, finding the right page.

"Picklescott, Shropshire." He scanned the page quickly. "This doesn't mention Lestrange? And it's from over one hundred years ago." He snapped the book shut and passed it back to her.

"Well, that's where I thought you could come in. Have you ever heard of the Carribald family?"

"That's a very old magical family name. From what I remember the name died out a long time ago."

"How about the Bathsuselow family?" She questioned.

"It sounds familiar but I cant be sure." He shook his head.

She sighed. "In that book it mentions a young girl being salvaged after the attack on the Carribald home. She went to live with her Aunt and Uncle, the Bathsuselow's. But in this book," she handed him Magical families 1900-1950; open on the correct page this time; "it has no mention of Carribald anywhere. So I'm lost."

He read the page quickly. Then he cocked his eyebrow. "Merrithon. Bron Merrithon… Rodolphus would mention his Grandfather Bron all the time."

"Last name Merrithon?" Excitement prickled in her stomach.

"He just said Bron."

"No mention of Grandmother Agatina?"

"I can't be sure. Is the Merrithon family in this book?" He asked but was already turning the pages until he found the M section. He held the book so they could look at the page together.

 _Father: Bron Merrithon_

 _Mother: Agatina Merrithon (Nee Bathsuselow)_

 _Son: Faron Merrithon: Wed Felicity Tumbers (Muggle) Aug. 1949_

D _aughter: Frances Merrithon: Unmarried_

"Did he ever mention his parents?"

"Rarely. And he called them Mother and Father."

"How about the Tumbers family?" She asked as he was already flicking to the T section. No Tumbers.

"She was a Muggle." He flicked back to the Merrithon page and pointed to her name. "Her family wouldn't be recorded in this book, and any further mention of the Merrithon family would be in the next edition." He closed the book in his hands and passed it back to her.

"So a dead end." She took in and looked down at the cover. The hopeful excitement she had felt a few seconds ago vanished and left with further unanswered questions.

"For the time being. If you write it down for me I can run it past my Mother. She might know."

"Thanks. I'll ask Harry if he can get me the next edition from somewhere too."

He nodded. She was lost in her own thoughts and didn't think to move or leave, until Draco coughed and she was pulled from wherever she was.

"Anything else?" He asked, grabbing the handle of his bedroom door behind his back. Signalling her to leave.

"No." She shook her head. "Sorry." She turned to head back downstairs when she stopped herself and turned back around. "Thanks again…you know for humouring me." He had nearly closed the door, but re-opened it so his head was visible in the small opening.

He nodded then closed the door with a thud, leaving Hermione alone, again.

.x.

At four that afternoon Harry arrived back from Headquarters and rushed upstairs to get ready for his shift. At four-fifty that afternoon, Draco and Harry left to start their watch and for ten minutes Hermione was completely alone in the house. It was deadly silent. So she boiled the kettle, just so she had something to listen to.

When Neville and Theo returned just after five they looked tired. After brief run-down from them about what had happened; bugger all – as Theo had put it; Neville excused himself to go for a shower whilst Theo rummaged in the cupboards for their food.

After he pulled out bread and jam, she put him out of his misery and lifted the hot stew she had made out of the oven.

"You must have been sent by angels to look after us ." Theo said as he looked at the stew and licked his lips. "I need this after that shift. Its fucking freezing sitting outside."

"Didnt you use a warming charm?" Hermione asked to which Theo responded with another swear word letting his head drop onto the table in front of him with a moan.

"I need sleeeeeeeep." He whined into the wood.

By the time Neville had re-joined them and eaten, it was past half seven and both the boys took off to bed, leaving Hermione on her own which she was getting used to. She vacated to her room and read until she fell asleep.

.x.

 **Bit of a filler chapter to lay some ground work for the future. Magical family names have been created for the story purposes only.** **So excited for the next few chapters! Please let me know what you think!**


	7. Tears and Alcohol

**Monday 23rd November**

Over the next four days Hermione settled into a comfortable routine with the boys in the house. She would wake at around eight in the morning and be on her own until midday when Harry and Draco would surface. She would make them some lunch, then sit and read for a few hours before they left and Theo and Neville arrived back. She would make them tea and have a few hours with the both of them before they went off to bed around eight thirty and she went to her own room.

By the time Monday afternoon came around and she saw Draco and Harry off once more, she was looking forward to having them all back in the house. She had mainly been on her own, either making meals for when they woke up or returned from their watch and missed having proper conversations with them, rather than just a quick chat.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Theo commented as he walked through the back door on Sunday evening. She smiled and beckoned him into the kitchen, saying hello to Neville as he came in behind him.

They plonked themselves down at the table and she placed large plates filled with sausages, mashed potato and gravy in front of them.

"Merlin, this looks good Hermione." Said Neville, stabling a sausage with his fork and biting off half in one go.

"Thanks." Theo said with a big smile. "What would we do without you?"

After they had finished eating Neville excused himself for a shower as always and left Theo and Hermione to wash up.

"So nothing? No movement at all?"

Hermione asked as she filled the sink up with hot soapy water and began piling in their plates.

"Nothing. I thought I saw something one morning, but it turns out it was just a fox running through the gates." He picked up a tea towel and started drying the washed plates.

"So what if the next watchers don't see anything either?"

"No idea. Move onto the next one?"

They continued in silence watching the light from the kitchen dance across the darkened trees beyond the window until she was cleaning the last pan. She saw Theo's reflection in the window and he yawned widely. She placed the last pan on the draining board which he picked it up, dried and placed back in the cupboard.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a drink." Theo said as he rested his back against the kitchen counter, "Five whole days free really does feel like a holiday."

"Are you not tired?"

"No. I'm in a mood to drink!"

"Do we have anything?"

"Yeah!" he said as he moved to a small door against the back wall. Hermione thought it was a serving hatch like they had in Muggle homes as it was on the shared wall with the planning room, but when he opened it, it was full of bottles. "It's all Muggle stuff, something called Lager that's quite nice and some wine then some stuff called Tequila – but last time Neville drank that he vomited it all back up so I wouldn't suggest trying it."

"Noted. I'll have a glass of that bottle of white there, the Sauvignon."

"Think I might join you."

Theo pulled out the bottle and closed the door up whilst Hermione searched for some glasses. Not being able to find any wine glasses she settled for small square tumblers. Theo twisted the cap on the bottle and poured each tumbler about half way. Hermione then took out her wand and chilled the liquid in the glasses. Theo watched her carefully.

"Harry did that last time too. You lot know what you're doing with this stuff."

"Perks of being born into a Muggle family." She said sitting down at the table as Theo pulled the chair out next to her.

"What are they like?" Theo asked taking her by surprise.

She looked at him for a few seconds, her face wrinkled up. "My family? Well it's just me and my parents."

"Where are they now?"

That was the question wasn't it. Where were they? The question she had been asking herself for well over a year. She looked down at the table and spoke. "In another country."

"But of an unusual time to have a holiday?"

"Not a holiday." She shook her head and took a breath steadying herself. He looked confused but let her have a moment before she continued. "I Obliviated them, gave them a new story, a new life and sent them to another country."

It was at the word Obliviated that his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Theo stared at her like she was new. Like he had never seen her before.

"Shit." She was expecting worse.

"Yeah." She played with the rim of her glass before lifting it to her lips and taking a big swig, relishing the feel if the cool liquid as it slid down her throat and pooled in her stomach. She hadn't had a drink in months.

"You have no idea where they are?" He said with a straight face.

"I know which country, but not where." Another sip.

"They have no idea who you are?" His eyes looked sad for her. Mouth turned down into a frown.

"Right at this moment? No. And not for over a year."

"Granger that's savage." Savage. Cut-throat. But the right decision at the time.

"Are you ever going to bring them back?"

"Two days before I was due to leave to find them and reverse the spell was when I was attacked in Diagon Alley. I woke up four days later in St. Mungo's and was moved to White Rabbit the next day. So yes, that's the plan just not yet."

"Shit. I'm sorry."

She shrugged her shoulders. She had always found it odd the way people would say sorry at times like this. Like it was somehow their fault. She knew it wasn't said in the way she thought. He was just being polite. He had nothing to be sorry for really. He would have been in this safe house already, no part of what happened to her.

He tapped his fingers on the table. "You don't have anyone." It was a statement not a question. Like he was telling himself she was alone.

"I have Harry, Ron and the Weasley's. They have been a family to me and more." She smiled at the thought. Her adopted family. "Anyway, you're the same. Separated from your family."

Theo screwed up his face and looked at her like she was stupid. "Yeah but I'm running away from my family not sending them away to keep them safe. That's fucking brave."

"It was necessary."

"You'd do anything to keep your family safe and I'm throwing mine under the Knight Bus." He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and stared at his glass on the table. She looked at the side of his face, and examined the way his nose had a slight ridge to it, a few freckles spattered the skin over his cheeks, but he had olive skin so they barely showed.

She didnt think he looked anything like his Father. There were pictures of him in the paper following the War. From what she remembered he was rather short and stocky whereas Theo was tall and slim. She didnt remember seeing his Mother pictured anywhere but assumed he must have looked like her. Her heart swelled for him, making a terrible but great decision to go against everything he was raised believing and join a group of people who hated him and all his family had stood for. She didn't know what to say. "Theo." She had nothing else.

"I know what you're going to say. It's different right?"

"Yes." She said softy picking up her glass and taking another sip. Theo followed suit and drained half of his glass.

He looked over at her with a sorry look on his face. Like a child. "I know." He didnt stop looking, but when she smiled the corner of his turned up and his eyes relaxed.

When Neville walked into the kitchen Theo snapped his eyes away from her and raised his glass in the air. "Yes!" Said Neville excitedly. "I was going to suggest we have a drink."

"I feel bad, having a drink without Harry and Draco."

"Don't feel bad. They've had plenty of nights drinking without us." Neville said pulling a glass of his own from the cupboard.

"Have they?" She asked in surprise.

"I forget sometimes that you've only just got here." Theo said shaking his head. He started pouring the wine into Neville's glass as he spoke. "A week after Draco got here they got hammered drunk, had another fight, drank some more and passed out around three in the morning."

"No one knows what was said- but after that... they just... got on." Neville joined in sitting down opposite them as Hermione chilled his wine with her wand.

Theo continued. "Every now and then they'll do it again. Get smashed, argue then get over it."

"Well at least they deal with it. Draco just avoids me." Hermione said looking down at her glass, remembering the previous week when he saw her scar and freaked out.

"Its not avoiding you." Neville said without conviction.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "What would you call walking away whenever we're left alone or barely speaking a word to me?"

He thought for a moment then gave up. "Good point." He said then drank deeply from his tumbler.

"He's got a lot of layers." Theo commented.

"If I say anything... even throw an insult, he just clenches his jaw and doesn't respond, or walks away."

"And why do you think that's a bad thing?" Neville said to her.

"I don't know. It's just a different relationship than I'm used to having with him." Neville nodded in response and drank again.

Theo reached over to the bottle on the table and re-filled their glasses with a smile. "It means he's trying." He raised his glass in the air and they followed suit, chinking the glasses together.

.x.

At around nine they moved into the living room. Hermione curled herself into the blue armchair, Theo in the other striped armchair and Neville was stretched across the soft sofa. Neville had put on the radio playing quietly in the background while they talked and drank.

Theo drained the second bottle of wine into his glass then headed into the kitchen in search of the third. At first Hermione had refused another glass having already had three but after Neville and Theo had spent twenty minutes convincing her, she was ready for another glass and Theo filled it up gladly.

His cheeks were a rosy pink and he and Neville had been in fits of laugher at various times telling vulgar jokes. They had provided a great source of entertainment for her an she had felt the most relaxed she had for a long time.

Then it hit her. The reason she hadn't been relaxed. The attack on White Rabbit, the death of Dean, her friend and lover. All of a sudden she felt sick. Sick at how much she had enjoyed herself tonight and ashamed when she realised she hadn't thought about him at all that day.

"Hermione?"

She looked over to Neville who was looking at her with a worried look on her face. She felt wet tears fall down her cheeks and she wiped them up quickly with her jumper. "Sorry." She sniffed.

"Don't be." He moved over to her armchair and knelt down in from of her.

"I've really dampened the mood haven't I?" She said as he took her hand in his and squeezed.

"Not at all." He shook his head.

"I don't mean to bring everyone down."

"Hey, were already down there with you." Theo said pointing a finger to his chest. "A defected Pure-blood with a murderous Father and Longbottom. Who has the most unfortunate last name in magical history."

It caught her off guard and she laughed loudly, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks this time and she wiped them away with a smile to Theo.

"That's better." He said returning her smile. Then he looked away quickly and drained his glass reaching for the bottle of wine again.

"At my expense but sure... whatever makes you happy." Neville said moving back over to the sofa and plonking himself back down.

.x

 **Tuesday 24th November**

The clock had just chimed past midnight and Hermione and Theo were laughing at Neville passed out on the sofa, his mouth open and snoring loudly in time with the radio.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"I'm pretty drunk so please don't make it complicated." He said draining his glass once more and reaching for the bottle again.

"Harry said you went to Ron."

"I did." He nodded.

"Why?" She had never asked the question to Harry but now she had thought of it, it was all she could think of. Why had he sought out Ron?

"Well, after I left I knew I had to find someone. I remembered Ron's brothers... well brother, owned the joke shop so I hung out there for a few days until I saw Ron." He re-filled his glass and placed the bottle back on the floor by his chair. "Then I kind of jumped on him, broke down, cried a bit you know... real manly tears. He took me into the shop in one of the back rooms and we talked for a bit." He cleared his throat and continued. "I tried to explain things... but you know. It was fresh."

"Why Ron?"

"He was the best option I could think of. And we were in school together, I thought maybe that would help. I did think of you and Harry too but I had no way of finding you - and I was worried Harry might kill me."

She gigged. Thinking Ron was the more logical choice out of the two. "You thought that about Harry more than Ron?"

He shrugged and smiled. "I know now I was mistaken."

"What happened then?"

"I was taken to the Ministry. Questioned. I told them everything I knew. Volunteered for Legilimens and Veritiserum so they knew I was telling the truth then they put out the rumour I was killed. Crossfire they called it. I stayed with the Weasley's for a week or two before I was moved here - bloody good people."

"I know. So Draco arrived soon after?"

"Less than a month later." He nodded.

"How was it?"

"Great. I mean we got along in school, took similar classes and hung out a bit... but when he came here... we were like on the same side. We were in the same boat and it made it easier to come to terms with. It just felt right." He rubbed his face with his hand and exhaled a deep breath. "Look at me getting all soppy after a few drinks."

"It's good you have each other." She said.

"I've got Ron too, and Harry and Neville. And you now I suppose. We're like one big dysfunctional family."

She looked over at Neville still snoring on the sofa. He was right. She supposed they had to see it as a family. Not everyone got along in the conventional way but they were pushed together and they had to make it work. For the greater good.

"I think its time we took sleeping beauty to bed." She said looking at the clock on the wall. Well past twelve.

"I'll do it. It's not the first time." She and Theo pushed off the armchairs at the same time and she took his glass from him and then Neville's from the floor.

"Oi Longbottom, get up. I refuse to carry you this time." He slapped Neville lightly on the cheek and he roused quickly with a loud snort. "Come on. Bed." Neville frowned but got to his feet, grunted to Hermione and plodded out of the room and up the stairs. Hermione followed him out then turned towards the kitchen placing the glasses in the sink. She didn't realise just how much the wine had affected her until she stumbled into the kitchen side and laughed to herself at how stupid she was.

She turned back round and saw Theo quietly laughing at her. "Graceful."

She walked past him out of the kitchen and turned towards the stairs. "It's your fault. I've had way too much."

"On the contrary, unless you passed out with your head in the toilet, it is never enough... Ouch!" She heard a bang behind her and saw Theo had stumbled on the second step and was now furiously rubbing his knee.

"I think you just dismissed your own theory!" She carried on up the stairs chuckling to herself.

"Thanks for the help!" He called from the stairs still tending to his knee.

"Night Theo!" She waved from the top of the stairs then swooped round into her bedroom. In a second she had climbed onto the bed and locked her bedroom door with a flick of her wand. She vowed she would get up to get changed but in less than a minute she had fallen into a deep sleep on top of the covers, fully clothed.

.x.

 **A little bit of light hearted fun in this one. I promise you it's about to get interesting to stick with me and please let me know what you think.** **I'm a sucker for a review and it gives me the drive to keep going!**

 ** _Alice96t_ thank you so much again for the lovely review**!


	8. Empty Chairs, Empty Tables

**Tuesday 24th November**

Hermione woke up with a dry mouth. Not a dry mouth like she had when she first arrived at Blackgate but it was as if she had an unquenchable thirst. She opened her eyes slowly, then shut them, blinded by the winter sun streaming through her window. She groaned and turned over into her pillow then moaned in pain, slapping her palm to her forehead.

Headache. Unbelievable headache. As if there was a little man inside her head banging against her skull. If she stayed still the banging stopped so she did. She lay on her bed, willing herself to go back to sleep for what felt like forever before the little banging man in her head was back.

 _knock knock knock_

She wished he would stop and wondered if she could charm him away. It hurt too much to think of spells right now.

 _knock knock knock_

"Hermione." Her name was called, as well as the banging. She opened her eyes and pulled her head out from under her pillow.

"Hermione. Open the door." It sounded like someone she knew.

"Harry?" She said in a croaky voice.

"Yes, let me in."

She looked around for her wand, finding it lying next to her on the bed. She pointed it at the door and whispered "Alohamora." Then she pointed it at the curtains and flicked them closed. As she did Harry opened the door and stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw her.

"You look dreadful."

"I feel worse."

"You don't look as bad as Theo. He's had his head in the toilet for a few hours."

"Ha-ha. Serves him right."

"Drink this."

"What is it?" She asked as he handed her the bottle.

"Pepper-up potion."

She practically ripped the cork out of the bottle and drained it into her mouth then lay back against her pillow as the liquid worked its magic. Her headache vanished in seconds and her thirst quenched. She released a long contented sigh.

"Better?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yes."

"I gave one to Theo but he still feels bad."

"He drank twice what Neville and I did."

"Good night then?"

"It was. Took my mind off things."

"Good. I'm glad your getting along with him."

"Me too. He's good company."

"By the way, I asked around for that book you wanted but haven't sourced one yet. I'll keep trying."

"Thank you."

"Do you think it will be important?"

"I sure hope so."

Harry left and she gathered some clothes and a towel and headed towards the bathroom. She relished the feel of the hot water on her skin as she lathered up her hair and let the suds wash over her. She heard the door rattle.

"Who's in there?" Draco's voice called through the door.

"Its me... what do you want?" She yelled over the noise of the shower.

"The bathroom." His voiced dripping with sarcasm. She could just imagine his arrogant face behind the door.

"I'll be as fast as I can." She finished washing her hair, quickly washed with shower gel and turned off the shower, stepping out and wrapping the towel around her body. She grabbed her clothes off the floor, deciding to dry and dress in her room so as not to take too long. She turned the lock and pulled the door open to find Draco waiting against the bannister of the stairs.

"Sorry." She said as she held the towel, her wand and her clothes in her arms.

"I didn't mean to rush you." He said scanning her face. She saw his eyes flick to her towel then down to the floor.

"Its fine." She said as she walked past him cheeks blushing now wishing she had dressed in the bathroom. She hadn't realised how embarrassing it would be to be seen just in a towel, with dripping wet hair. But it was. Very.

.x.

She dried herself and her hair before dressing and heading downstairs. When she walked into the kitchen she saw Neville and Theo sat at the table looking sorry for themselves and Harry and Draco talking while making up sandwiches.

"Good Afternoon." She called to Theo and Neville who both managed a grimace before Theo rested his head on the table and Neville took a large swig of water.

Draco watched her walk into the room then turned back to Harry. She could feel her cheeks getting red again. She really wished it hadn't have been him waiting for the bathroom.

After they ate; Theo barely touching his sandwich; the clock on the wall chimed for one and they heard the pop of Apparition at the far end of the garden. Harry and Draco stood up and walked towards the back door, unlocking and opening it before extending their wands to the new arrivals.

"What's Kingsley doing here?" Neville asked. Hermione extended her neck to see Ron, Arthur, Charlie and Kingsley walking towards them. Wands down by their side.

Harry and Draco stiffened until they stepped onto the patio, when they relaxed their shoulders and steppee aside.

"Come on in." Harry said as he greeted Kingsley, Charlie and Arthur with a handshake and patted Ron on the back. They said their greetings to the rest of the room. Ron sat down next to Theo while the other new arrivals stayed standing, Draco moving to the back of the kitchen.

"Sorry to intrude," Kingsley said in his deep voice, "but we have a request."

"What's up?" Neville said looking worried.

"The Black house in Cornwall," Kingsley started, "we've seen a lot of activity there over the past few weeks and we've decided to put a team together to enter, check and detain any members."

"And you want our help?" Theo questioned.

"Yes. Its a large house, and we don't know how many people may be inside so we need as many people as we can."

"I'm in." Neville and Hermione said in unison and looked over at each other.

"Me too." Said Draco.

Followed by Theo. "Same."

Arthur nodded at them all. "We can use you Draco, and you Theo but we cant risk anyone noticing you. So you will need to go in disguise."

"Fine." Theo responded.

"I figured." Draco said running a hand through his hair.

"We also need your knowledge of the house. It will give us the upper hand... hopefully."

"Sure." Draco responded. Looking away from the eight pairs of eyes currently watching his reaction.

Arthur turned to Hermione with a sorry look on his face. "Hermione however you haven't had time with Charlie yet so you will have to sit this one out."

Her heart sunk. As soon Kingsley had spoken she had been excited. Finally something to do, something that counted. "Can't we do it this week so I can join the others?" She asked hopefully.

Arthur however shook his head. "We're arranging the raid for tomorrow and the boys need to leave with us now to got through the preliminaries for a few hours, so there isnt time." She looked at Ron who gave her the same sorry face as Arthur had.

"If you guys are ready and you're sure... we should leave now." Charlie said.

Draco and Theo walked towards the back door and into the garden. Neville gave her a small smile then followed them out alongside Arthur and Kingsley.

"As soon as this is done I'll come over and train you. We could use someone like you out there." She nodded and Charlie gave her a small smile then turned to leave.

Harry pulled her into a hug and kissed her head. "Soon." He said in a whisper as he let go and headed towards the door. Ron pulled her into his arms and gave her a big squeeze then followed Harry out of the door. She watched them one by one disapparate from the garden until she was staring at the empty grass they had just been standing on.

She slammed the kitchen door and the bang echoed around the empty kitchen. She looked around her at the empty chairs and empty plates left for her to clean up and her eyes welled up with tears. This is what she was again. A cleaner, a cook just like she was at white rabbit while the others were out there fighting and doing something.

Fighting the people that had hurt her and her friends. The people that had killed Dean. She sunk onto the table and cried for him. Cried at how useless she was and how much she missed him and how much she wanted him to be here. To help her through this and help he with the washing up, then telling her leave it and to go to bed with him instead. Where he would touch her skin and make her feel wanted. Make her feel like she wasn't a waste of space.

.x.

The hours dragged waiting. So she did what she always did. Read and cooked. She ate dinner alone and left the food in a pot on the table so it could be reheated when the guys returned. She settled on the sofa and read. After an hour of not able to keep her thoughts on the page she went upstairs and drew herself a bath.

She pinned her hair to the top of her head and soaked her skin in the warm water staying there for an hour before the water cooled. She dried her hair with a towel then wrapped it around her body and made her way back to her bedroom where she pulled on a shrunken blue nightdress and climbed into bed. The bath relaxed her and she fell to sleep easily.

She didnt know how long she had been asleep for but some time later she heard muffled voices. She didn't go down and see them, but stayed in her room trying to send herself back off to sleep. Some time later there was a quiet knock on her door.

"Hermione, are you awake?" The voice of Neville whispered through the wood. She didnt respond, not wanting to see anyone and waited until she heard the creak of the floorboards outside her room and footsteps leading up to the third floor.

She lay there in the darkness listening to the footsteps and creaks along the landing as she counted the boys to their beds. Another few creaks then feet on stairs, Harry following Neville to the third floor. A door closing down the hall, Theo's. After some time she heard the last set of feet along the landing. She heard a loud creak and looked towards the crack at the bottom of the door. His shadow moved, another creak then the opening and closing of his door opposite her room. Silence resumed and she drifted back off to sleep.

 **.x.** **Filler and set up for the next few chapters. I hope you like what's coming!** **Thanks all for the lovely reviews! I know its a slow burn... well, a very slow burn but things are going to start to hot up now!** **Next chapter will be out before Friday so keep your eyes peeled and let me know what you think!**


	9. Patience is a virtue

**Thursday 26th November**

She woke up before everyone else, washed and dressed and was downstairs with tea and cereal by seven thirty that morning. She was surprised to find the guys plates from the food she left out washed and left drying on the draining board by the sink, so she put them away in their cupboards before moving into the living room. She couldn't help with the mission but she could do anything she can to help from here.

She pulled as many books as she could from the bookcase in the living room and laid them out across the small coffee table. She moved into the dining room, plucked a quill and a piece of parchment from the table, along with the blank cards found on Nott and took them all back to the living room with her and set down to try to understand what they were for.

She tried _Aparecium_ to reveal any invisible ink or magic, but nothing happened. She tried _Revelio_ to reveal any objects, but nothing happened. She tried _Specialis_ _Revelio_ to see if there were any charms or hexes on the cards but again, nothing showed. She spent a good hour searching the books for any sign of any other revealing spells that she might not have heard of before but she found none.

Deflated she sat back on the floor against the sofa and sighed loudly. She wondered whether he was holding these cards to write messages on to them give to other people. Maybe instructions. Maybe that's the reason why they had nothing on them. So much for her earlier optimism about trying to help and do something. It seems she was deemed to be a Muggle cleaner and cook forever.

Then something clicked. Muggle. Muggle technology.

She had studied the Muggle first World War for a time in junior school, and she remembered a way that Muggles passed on messages via invisible ink. Well she couldn't call it invisible ink in the Wizarding way, but it was something to do with using the juice of a lemon as ink. And the way to reveal the messages? Light and heat.

She jumped up off the floor her hands shaking with excitement as she picked up one of the cards and took it across to one of the lamps on the wall. She turned handle making the flame burn brighter and hotter and she placed the card against the glass, waiting.

She was there for some time patiently holding the card against the glass until she felt the heat start to burn her fingers. She was about to give up when she started to see faint silver shapes appear on the card. She screamed excitedly as more and more shapes appeared on the card.

"Harry!" she yelled loudly, Unable to contain her excitement as it looked like the shapes were starting to form words in front of her eyes. "Harry get down here now!" She yelled as loudly as she could, not caring if she woke the others up.

She heard footsteps and the sound of doors opening. "Harry!" She yelled again. She heard the sound of running footsteps coming down the stairs before Theo ran into the room.

"What's the matter!?" he shouted, flinging his wand to every corner of the room,

"Nothing's the matter! Look!" she nodded to her hands holding the card against the lamp. He walked over to her and his mouth dropped as he saw the letters forming.

"Shit! Harry!" He yelled and ran up the stairs to get him. More footsteps were heard as Theo woke the house up.

"What the hell is going on!?" She heard Draco shout.

"She's figured out the bloody cards!" Came Theo's response from above.

More running footsteps on the stairs as Draco ran to her side and looked to her hands, the shapes now formed words.

 _Penelope Clearwater_

"Surprise, surprise. Bookworm Grangers' found the answer." He said looking over to her. She looked at him with a wide grin. She didnt even care that his comment was laced with sarcasm. She couldn't hide her happiness. In less than a second her happiness had infected him and his mouth creept into a small smile. It was the first time she had seen him smile since she had been in the house.

The lines around his eyes wrinked, showing off his grey eyes. They had always looked dark from a far, stormy grey but up close they were paler. Flecks of blue the colour of clear sky dotted through his iris.

He wasnt smiling anymore, just watching her watch him. She wrinkled her forhead in confusion. Her own smile fading from her lips. She saw sure he wasnt this close before.

Heavy footsteps running down the stairs signalled the others arrival and she tore her eyes away from his and he took a step away from her. Seconds later Harry, Neville and Theo rushed into the room and crowded behind her. Reading the hidden words on the cards.

"Penelope Clearwater?" Theo said, confusion laced in his voice.

"That's Percy's old girlfriend." Stated Harry. "She's working with us as one of the Watchers. I need to get to Headquarters with this now and make sure she's okay!"

He made to run from the room. "Harry wait, I haven't checked the others!" She said and he turned back scanning the room.

"Where are they?"

"On the table." She nodded to the table full of books. Sat on top were the two other cards yet to reveal their secrets.

Draco was first to turn around and grab a card from the table, Harry reached out and grabbed the other. Harry moved Hermione out of the way and pushed his card up against the warm lamp. Draco did the same on the lamp on the other side of the wall and Theo moved next to him. Neville, Hermione and Harry waited patiently for their card to warm up and the silvery shapes to start appearing.

"It's working!" Said Neville and they waited until the shapes became words once more.

" _Charlie Weasley_ …" Harry whispered.

"Oh no." Hermione said her hand covering her mouth. Charlie was a target. The family had already lost Fred, she couldn't bear the thought of them losing Charlie too.

"Shit." Was heard from behind them. When they turned around they saw the worried faces of Theo and Draco looking over at her.

"What?" Neville asked.

"Who is it?" Harry said with a shaking voice. But Hermione already knew. Draco and Theo were staring right at her. She looked between the two boys, ice grey and dark brown sorrowful eyes watching her from across the room. Her heart dropped to her stomach as she looked for confirmation to the card still held in Draco's hand against the lamp. The faint silver shapes the same as their cards had formed a name.

 _Hermione Granger_

.x.

The decision to go to Headquarters together was an easy one, and instigated by Harry as soon as he saw her name on the card in Draco's hand. Within seconds he had ordered the guys upstairs to get dressed. Within two minutes they were all back downstairs and rushing towards the apparition point at the end of the garden. She watched as Draco and Theo disapparate first, followed closely by Neville. Harry grabbed her arm and she clung to his hand, then everything went black. Crushing her lungs until she felt ground beneath her and she took a deep breath of the cool air.

She was standing infront of what looked like a Muggle cottage. Small and quaint with beautiful roses bushes either side of a cobbled walkway leading to the front door. Draco was already there with a wand pointed at his face by his own Mother.

His wand was in his hand by his side. Harry dragged her along with him until they were standing behind Draco and he stepped forward first, past an olive tree next to the pathway. Narcissa nodded and lowered her wand.

"We need passage for Hermione." He said to his Mother as she watched Neville and Theo pass beyond the olive tree.

"I'll be her ward." Neville said holding out his hand for Hermione. She took it greatfully and he pulled her past the olive tree. As if she had passed through an invisible waterfall, cool water was running all over her skin. Yet when she touched her clothes they were dry. It made her shiver and she caught Draco's eye. She didn't know who had looked first.

"You get used to it." Theo said with a smile and following her eyes to his friends.

"Where's Kingsley?" Draco turned to his Mother not waiting for an answer before rushing past her and turning to the right.

"Whats going on?" Narcissa asked, watching as the three other men rushed past her into the house. Hermione gave her a meak smile and held up the card in her hand.

"They're names."

Narcissa stepped back and Hermione walked into the cottage. She was standing in a carpeted hallway, photographs of faces she recognised lining the walls. To her left she saw a small sitting room with an open fire roaring. Along the hall she could see a kitchen and a staircase to the right leading upstairs.

She started to walk through the door directly to her right but stopped abruptly and turned to the tall woman behind her. "I never said thank you, for... fixing me."

Narcissa stood taller pulling her shoulders back. She was just under a foot taller than Hermione, no wonder Draco was so tall.

"So... thank you." Hermione finished with an awkward smile.

Narcissa nodded. "How is your leg?" Her voice soft.

"It's fine."

"Glad to hear it." They stayed there for a few seconds not knowing what else to say.

The silence was broken as Harry called for her from the other room. She smiled then moved towards the door. She expected more small rooms in fitting with the cottage but as she stepped through it was obvious the room had been magically enlarged. The room was three times the size it looked from the outside.

The room was a buzz with people, Aurors with their long black cloaks next to many people she recognised. Three large tables were centered in the room in a row and to the far right wall she saw an exact duplicate of the dining room wall in their safehouse.

She saw Arthur talking to the four boys infront of the wall, Harry showing him the names on the cards they had found. Arthur turned to a short man beside him in an Auror robe. Harry beckoned for Hermione to join them.

"You need to check on Penelope Clearwater, make sure she is fine then bring her here. I'll Floo home and get Charlie." The short Auror nodded and called for two more Aurors before leaving the room in a hurry.

"Harlow!" A wizard with long dark hair tied at the nape of his neck looked over to Arthur. "We need Kingsley now." He nodded and ran from the room.

"At least we have you safe." He smiled at Hermione then left the room himself and ran out into the garden.

"Cooo." A young boy no older than eighteen months old had wandered into the room and was tugging on Draco's trousers. He held out his chubby arms asking to be lifted up. Draco hesitated at first but bent down and picked up the little boy in his arms. "You're not supposed to be in here." He said in a stern but soft voice.

"Cooo." Teddy replied slapping his little hand to Dracos head and Hermione watched as his brown hair turned a white blonde to match the man holding him in his arms. Draco smirked at the little boy who giggled in his arms.

Confused, Hermione looked over at Harry who caught her eye but looked away. Why was Draco so close to Teddy? He was the poster boy for blood-purity so how was he now holding a half-blood, part werewolf child in his arms and not running as far away as possile at his touch?

"Teddy Lupin, you are not supposed to be in here." Hermione was momentarily distracted by the woman walking into the room holding out her arms for the now blonde toddler wrapping his arms tightly round Draco's neck.

Her breath hitched in her throat and her stomach dropped before she realised she was not in fact the woman who haunted her dreams, but her younger sister. Light brown hair, not black like Bellatrix's and a soft round face.

"What are you all doing here?" Andromeda Tonks asked whilst trying to pry Teddy's fingers from around Draco's neck. He only clung tighter to the blonde and said no over and over again. Hermione looked over at Harry, watching as his godson was clinging to Draco. Harry looked sad, his green eyes giving him away despite his outward demeanour.

"The cards found on Nott… It's names." Harry said.

"Of people?" She asked.

He nodded. "We don't know if it's a capture list, kill list… or anything else."

"Who's names?"

"Charlie Weasley, Penelope Clearwater and Hermione." Neville said nodding Hermione's way.

Andromeda turned to her with a smile. "At least you are here safe." She was so different to Bellatrix, kind and caring, soft features. Yet from a distance they looked eerily similar.

"Cooo." Teddy had his nose against Draco's. Draco was trying not to smile but as Teddy wrapped his arms around his neck again she saw the flex in Draco's arm as he responded, hugging him back. A small twitch at the corner of his lip. She couldn't help a smile of her own at the affection between the two of them.

A pop of apparition was heard in the garden and Hermione turned to see Ginny running up the pathway and flying into the room. She locked eyes with her and collided with her, wrapping her arms around her neck. Hermione stumbled back a few paces giggling into her flaming red hair. "I came as soon as Dad said you were here! I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too!"

"Where are they?" Said Harry as Ginny pulled away from her.

"Dad's bringing them now." She said to Harry as she reached out for him and gave him a hug. She watched his previously sad eyes light up as the red head kissed him on the lips, not caring if anyone else was watching.

Theo puckered his lips up to Neville. Neville rolled his eyes at him and punched him on the arm. A few more pops were heard and they saw Charlie appear followed Arthur, Percy and Ron, walking quickly up the pathway into the house. Hermione was thankful Charlie was okay.

"Penelope?"

"Not yet." Said Neville shaking his head.

Ron looked over to Percy who looked pale. Harry had said that she was his ex-girlfriend so he must have been worried. Arthur looked concerned too but swung round quickly as another apparition popped in the garden. Kingsley followed by Harlow the Auror sprinted into the house and into the room.

"Miss Clearwater?" Kingsley asked in his booming voice.

"Not yet." Arthur shook his head. "Robson took two other Aurors, they should be here soon."

Kingsley looked around the room at the faces staring over at him "Who found the names on the card?"

"Hermione did." Said Theo quickly giving her a big grin, causing Ron to look over at him and frown. Theo looked at Ron and cocked his eyebrow before turning back to Kingsley.

"We had two of our best Aurors on this. How did you find the spell to reveal the message?"

"It wasn't a spell, It's a muggle technique." Hermione answered.

"Muggle?" He questioned.

"In the Muggle War's, they used to send hidden messages to one another using this method in case their mail was intercepted. It's a mixture of lemon juice and water for the ink and they would write on paper, wait for it to dry and it would become invisible. When whoever they sent it to held it up to a hot lamp the message would reveal itself."

"Fascinating." Arthur said with a intrigued look on his face.

Harlow the Auror with the long pony tail stepped forward. "Then it's invisible ink. It should have shown up."

"It's not invisible ink as we know it. There is no magic involved, therefore can't be traced by our methods."

Kingsley eyed her suspiciously then smiled. "Good work."

She gave him a small smile but began blushing when she saw how many eyes were on her. More pops of apparition outside the front of the house caused the room to turn in the direction of shouting coming from a tall blonde being escorted up the path. "Get off me!" She shouted.

"Tell these men to get off me!" Penelope shouted again as she was directed into the room. She yanked her arm away from the Auror and straightened herself out. She held herself tall and looked around the room. Her eyes settled on Hermione for a second, then she saw her complexion change completely when he eyes settled on Draco and Theo. Rolling her eyes as she saw Percy. She righted herself quickly and addressed the whole room. "Someone tell me what this is about?"

Percy stepped forward as if about to speak before Kingsley took over. "Miss Clearwater, your name has been found on one of the cards found in the possession of Franklin Nott."

She looked around at the room, mouth open. "What exactly am I being accused of?" She said crossing her arms over her chest.

"We are not accusing you of anything, in fact we bought you here because we were worried for your safety."

Her shoulders relaxed. "Well, I'm perfectly fine."

"Miss Clearwater I don't think you understand the serious nature of this situation." Kingsley said stepping towards her. "You have been singled out by _The Ashes_. As for what yet, we are not sure but you could be in serious danger."

"What could they possible want with me?"

"You work with the Order. You work with the Ministry. You have been involved with Percy Weasley, a family knowing for their associations with Muggle witches and wizards."

"Kingsley, I think it best we place her in protection." Said Arthur.

Percy stepped forward. "She can stay with us at the Burrow."

"No, I don't want to be anywhere near you!" Penelope backed away from him. Percy clutched his chest and dropped his eyes to the floor. Hermione looked over at Ginny who widened her eyes at the scene.

"Penelope, please." He whispered in desperation.

"We have a spare room here." Andromeda said reluctantly. Penelope didn't look like she liked that idea either.

"Penelope there isn't another option." Arthur urged carefully. "If they get to you… they could kill you. Or worse."

She huffed. "Fine." Her eyes fell on Draco, still holding Teddy in his arms, the small boy now sleeping peacefully resting his head on Draco's shoulder. "My work as a watcher…"

"Can still be yours, it will just be restricted to working here."

"Fine. I need to go to my flat to get some things."

"Robson here will escort you, with Harlow." Arthur nodded to the two Aurors who nodded in response. Penelope then turned and stormed out of the house without a word of thanks. Arthur shook his head and Kingsley let out a long sigh as they heard the three disapparate.

Hermione turned to Ginny. "Poor Percy." She whispered.

Ginny grimaced. "It was so out of the blue. She called things off about three weeks ago and won't let him anywhere near her."

She saw Andromeda turn to Draco and pull the sleeping boy from his arms, still sporting the Malfoy blonde hair even when dreaming.

"No, Dad. No Way." She turned to see Charlie, Arthur and Kingsley having a heated debate.

"Charlie… listen to me." Arthur held up his hand trying to reason with him.

"No! I'm not being confined to house. I want to be out there fighting them. I refuse the Order's protection!"

Arthur held his head in his hands. "Please." He urged his son.

Kingsley stepped in "Charlie you being captured…" but was cut off by Charlie.

"I'll join in with or without your permission." Charlie wasn't kidding. He was mad and looking as stubborn as hell. Everyone in the room could feel the tension. There was no way he was backing down.

 _"If_ ," Kingsley began pointing his large dark finger at him, "and only _if_ you swear to be partnered up at all times, use a disguise anytime you step even a foot outside and report to either me, Arthur or Bill every morning and every evening will you be allowed to do this."

"Done." Charlie said firmly before Arthur could say a word against it.

Arthur opened his mouth to retort but Kingsley shook his "Arthur we need the numbers, and he's one of the best."

"I'll partner up with him." Percy stepped forward looking like he had recovered from his earlier confrontation with Penelope.

"Thanks Perce." Charlie walked passed him and slapped him on the back before heading over to a group of Aurors who were in talks around a rather large map.

"You boys should head home, get some rest and be back here for nine to go over the plans. We raid at one am tomorrow." Arthur said before he turned and walked over towards Charlie and the Aurors.

The group started walking towards the front door before Kingsley called out.

"Draco, can you stay? We need your input on a few things." He nodded and turned back around, following Kingsley towards the now large group around the map.

"I'll come back with you guys. I could use a break from home." Ron said glancing over at Hermione and smiling before glancing quickly at Theo.

"Oh it's okay. Just leave me here with no one!" Ginny moaned.

"I'll stay with you," Harry said tenderly to the beautiful red head at his side. "I'll come back in a few hours." He said to Ron who gave him a stern look.

"Jeez Ron, I've not seen him in a week we have a lot to catch up on." Ginny said pushing Harry towards the hallway.

Theo laughed. "Yeah like her..."

"Finish that sentence Nott, I dare you." Ron said facing Theo head on.

"Oh really, what you gonna do?" Theo said squaring up to him and smiling. Ron stared at Theo for a few seconds before he turned and walked out of the house. Theo turned to Hermione and winked before following Ron into the garden and disapparting quickly after one another.

"'Mione, I'll get my watcher approved so I can come see you." Said Ginny pulling her into a hug. She said a quick goodbye to Harry before Ginny claimed his lips once more. A pang of jealousy jolted through her at the sight of the two of them so happy and she wished she had someone like they did. Then she thought of Dean and her heart sunk.

"Come on. We haven't even had breakfast yet." Said Neville rubbing his stomach and heading for the door.

Before they reached the apparition point at the end of the cobbled path she turned to look at the house remembering her surroundings in case she had to apparate back there in future. She then closed her eyes and felt the familiar black squeeze before landing back at Blackgate.

 **.x.**

 **So a long chapter after the short one earlier this week... but things are starting to move along now. _The Ashes_ using Muggle techniques to avoid detection from the Ministry and the Order! *gasp***

 **I hope you like how the story is evolving and the small interaction between Hermione and Draco... there will be more to come in the next few chapters!**

 **As always your reviews are so lovely- keep them coming I love to know what you think!**

 ** _Suddencharm dramoli -_ your reviews were lovely, thank you! I'm so glad youre enjoying the story** **. Love a good slow burrrrn!**

 **I've got the next few chapters written and have planned for atleast four more after that but I have feeling this may go on for some time yet!**


	10. The Raid

**Thursday 26th November**

While Hermione and Neville sat talking in the kitchen, Ron and Theo took to the living room to play Wizard Chess, despite their earlier confrontation. Neville assured her that their argument was nothing and that Theo was always winding Ron up.

Hermione wondered when Ron had become such a calm person. Usually a Slytherin winding him up was all it took for him to fly off the handle, but she supposed things were different nowadays. And she had to start getting used to the changes.

Harry arrived an hour after they got back with a large smile on his face and a pink blush to his cheeks, deciding to avoid saying hello to Ron for a while. Half an hour later Draco arrived back and chucked a note towards Hermione.

"What's this?" She asked him.

"A note."

"I know that, who from."

"I wound assume you can deduce that for yourself by opening it." He pulled out a chair and sat back. She rolled her eyes and glanced at Harry who shrugged his shoulders.

 _Miss Granger,_

 _Thank you for your help today, your knowledge is a great asset. I would like to grant you open travel between Blackgate and HQ. We may need you in future. I have given Mr Malfoy the go ahead to complete your access._

 _K. Shaklebolt_

"You could have just told me." She said with a frown.

"Well then we wouldn't have had our usual repertoire which I find so entertaining."

"What does it say?" Neville asked.

"Kingsley has granted me travel between here and Andromeda's in case I can help them out." Hermione said gratefully.

"Shall we do this?" Draco pushed back his chair and pulled out his wand from his pocket.

"What are you going to do?" She followed and stood up moving round the table towards him. He held out his hand towards the ceiling and she looked at him sceptically before she grasped his hand in hers and found surprisingly that it was soft and warm. Draco immediately frowned.

Neville began to chuckle to her right and she looked over at him confused. That's when she felt Draco's other hand, still gripping his wand peel her hand from his and turn it so it faced the ceiling. Thats when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She blushed. She had held his hand. _What an idiot._

He looked positively mortified about having to touch her, deep lines imbedded into his forehead and a scowl on his lips.

He gripped her wrist tightly digging his fingers into the soft skin and she winced at the pressure. He placed the tip of his wand on top of her visible blue vein and pressed deeply into her skin.

" _Transitumus_." He held his head high as the word rolled off his tongue. She felt a surge of magic rush through the vein in her wrist, throughout her body like a wave of heat washing over her. She released the breath she was holding and Draco did the same. She saw his cheeks flush, feeling the same in her own and noted he must have felt the same rush of warmth as the castor of the spell. He dropped her wrist.

She stretched out her fingers by her side feeling the warming wave still lingering in her fingertips while she took her place at the table. Draco put the kettle on, watched closely by Harry.

"Kingsley let you cast the passage spell?" Concern tinged Harrys voice as he watched Draco filing his mug with coffee.

"Yes." He either ignored or didn't notice Harrys tone. Draco shook the hand that had held her wrist turning round to glance Hermione's way. She looked away not wanting to be seen watching him.

They heard a noise from the living room. It sounded like something was knocked over then they heard Ron say something to Theo that they didn't catch. Harry and Hermione got up from the table to go see what was going on but before they reached the door Ron appeared looking particularly annoyed.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked. Ron said nothing, just pushed past the two of them and walked towards the back door. Theo appeared from the living room.

"Ron gets a bit annoyed when I win." He ran a hand through his hair and followed Ron into the kitchen.

"I'm going to get some rest before tonight." Ron said before storming out of back door. "I'll see you later."

"He's such a sore loser." Theo joked. He shared an odd stare with Draco that Hermione couldn't place before he walked by them again and headed for the stairs.

"See." Neville began. "They always argue like that but they will be fine tomorrow." Draco smirked.

"I just hope they're okay for the raid later. I don't want them to be distracted." Harry said.

"Speaking of... I'm going to gets some rest." Neville said.

"Same." Harry agreed and the two of them left the room. Leaving her alone with _him_.

His back was still turned watching the kettle, probably begging it for it to boil so he could leave. He drummed his fingers on the countertop.

"Are you worried about tonight?" She asked.

"No." He said abruptly. As if she were stupid to even think it. Nothing else. End of conversation.

She let out a defeated breath. "Don't worry I'll leave, so you aren't _forced_ to make conversation." As she pushed back her chair he turned round to her and opened his mouth, deciding immediately to close it again.

Nothing. She carried on towards the door until she was stopped in her place by his words.

"Yes I'm worried." He said them quietly and when she turned to look at him he had already turned back to the kettle. It wasn't an invitation for a conversation but it was an olive branch. _He was trying._

.x.

They left her at eight forty five after Theo had helped her cook the dinner. He was quiet, which was completely unlike the Theo she had gotten used to over the past two weeks. It was only fair, they were raiding a house which could hold some of his former friends so she wouldn't expect him to be all singing and all dancing about it. After they left she washed up and took a long bath, trying desperately to relax her nerves.

.x.

The guys had been gone for two hours. Two hours more until they would start the raid. Harry had assured her it would be a routine raid. No one knew they would be coming, it would be a surprise and they would be able to quickly round up any members they found and be back in time for breakfast.

She didnt go to bed. She knew she wouldn't sleep properly and wanted to be awake... just in case. So she settled on the striped armchair, lit the fire and waited.

.x.

 **Friday 27th November**

She woke with a start as the clock chimed midnight loudly around the silent space. Heart racing she looked around the room pointing her wand everyway she turned. The fire was still crackling, slowly dying down and she turned to the noisy clock. One hour to go.

.x.

 _She heard the chime of a clock in the distance as she ran through the safe house. She checked his room, lifted the covers on the double bed where they slept but he wasn't there. She checked the bathroom where he washed her. Where he would run his fingers through her hair and down her body. She even checked Harry's room. He was lying on his bed._

 _"He's not here, Hermione." Harry said. But he was lying. She could hear him. He was here. He was trying to get to her, calling her name._

 _She ran down the stairs, her feet like lead, trying to call his name but she couldn't get it out. It was like a whisper. His yells were getting louder and louder, ringing in her ears until he was screaming._

She woke with a start, still looking for Dean. Still hearing him call her name. She rubbed here eyes trying to wake up so his voice would stop. But she kept hearing her name, over and over.

The raid – The boys.

"Hermione!"

It hit her with such force she jumped up from the chair, getting her legs tangled in the blanket she had wrapped over her. She fell to the floor with a thud kicking it off her legs and scrambling to her feet.

"Fuck! Help me!"

She ran towards the cries, out of the living room and into the kitchen until she was face to face with a total stranger. Dark black hair, piercing blue eyes and covered in blood. He was tending to another man on the table- Theo. They were both covered in blood.

She grabbed for her wand in her pocket and pointed it at the black haired man.

"Who are you! What have you done to Theo!"

"Hermione, it's me! Please help me!"

"I don't know who you are!" She yelled over his cries of _fuck fuck fuck_.

"Its me, it's Draco! Please! Help me, help Theo!" It was Draco, the closer she looked it was him. The same face, same nose just different coloured hair and eyes.

"He's not breathing, he's not fucking breathing!" He took Theo's shoulders in his hands and shook him hard. He was in disguise just like Kingsley had said. Only Theo wasn't. Whatever charm he had used wasn't working anymore... because he wasn't breathing.

"Wake up Theo! For fucks sake Granger fucking help him!"

She ran over to Theo, pushing Draco out of the way. He stumbled away from the table as she put her ear to Theo's mouth, watching for any rise and fall of his chest. Nothing.

"Was it the killing curse?"

"No. It wasn't green..." Draco said, tears falling from his eyes.

She opened his mouth checking his airways, nothing. She grabbed his chin and pushed his head back, pinched his nose in between her fingertips and blew three long breaths into his mouth one after another. Nothing.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

She knotted her fingers and placed them on top of his chest, pushing down hard over and over, his chest bouncing underneath her weight. She sang the Muggle song in her head as she pushed down on his chest to the rhythm.

Nothing. She repeated blowing air into his mouth three more times. Nothing.

"Come on!" She screamed in his face while moving back to his chest pumping again and again until the ache started to build in her arms. Tears were streaming down her face and Draco kept looking at her then at Theo, helplessness washing over him.

He sunk into a chair not able to watch anymore and began crying loud sobs as he repeated his own rhythm.

" _Not Theo, not Theo, not Theo._ " Over and over again through his sobs. He grabbed his head in his hands and screamed at his friend on the table.

"Wake-up!" He screamed. Over and over. "Wake up! Theo for fucks sake wake up!"

Hermione heard an intake of breath below her and stilled her hands. She saw the slow rise and fall of Theo's chest as he began breathing on his own. Relief flooded her body.

"He's breathing! Get me everything you have, any potions ..."

Draco stood up and looked over Theo. He watched his chest and saw the signs of life he was looking for but seemed to be in shock. He wiped his eyes and looked more closely at his friend as Hermione began cutting open his clothes with her wand.

"Draco! Please I need any medicine you have!"

Draco snapped out of his trance and ran from the room skidding out of the door. She heard his feet pound the floor as she finished cutting Theo's shirt open and moving it away from his body.

She used a tergo spell to remove the blood from his side and she found a long but not deep gash just below his rib. He had a split lip and what looked like a broken arm. Theo's body began to shiver, so she cast a warming charm over him and she watched the shivers subside over his chest.

She heed Draco's footsteps and she turned to the door as he ran in and skidded to a halt bedside her. He held out his hands; a small bottle of dittany, pain potion, sleeping draught and bandages.

"Pour a few drops of dittany on the gash, ill splint his broken arm."

His hands were shaking furiously as he tried to remove the lid from the bottle. After a few seconds she grabbed his hands and he looked at her. Shock illuminating his features, snapping him out of his own head. Tears still in his eyes, the unnatural blue staring back at her rather than his ice grey.

"Calm down, he's fine but I need your help okay?"

He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself. Both of their hands were wrapped around the small bottle of dittany. As his shaking subsided she let go of his warm hands and pulled the cork from the bottle.

"Four or five drops should be fine."

He nodded and pulled the pipette from the bottle and dripped the liquid over the gash in Theo's side. It fizzed when it touched his skin but soon the gash was closed, with fresh skin forming on top.

" _Ferula_." She whispered pointing her wand at his arm. The spell made a splint and bandaged his arm. It would do; she thought; until she found someone who could fix it.

" _Episkey_." She pointed her wand at his split lip and it sealed up as if nothing had happened. She cut his trousers next and searched his legs for any sign of damage but she found none apart from a few grazes which would heal in time.

"Why didnt you take him to the hospital? Neville's old home?" She asked as she continued to search Theo.

"I... I've never been before, they said it would just be a raid... they didnt plan for..."

"For what?" She urged. He shook his head and wiped his eyes. A deep exhale from his mouth made the hair around her face tickle her skin.

"Draco what happened? Where are the others... my friends?"

He sat down on a chair behind him and rsted his arm on the table next to Theo. Watching the rise and fall of his chest. "They knew we were coming. There were over thirty of them. As soon as we entered the grounds they attacked."

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know. I was in a group with Ron and a few others fighting at the back of the house. An Auror went down, then I saw Theo go down and Ron told me to get him safe."

Worry overcame her and the faces of her friends flashed infront of her eyes. Harry, Ron, Neville and goodness knows how many others were there. "How did they know?"

He put his head in his hand. "I don't know..."

"You need to go." He looked up at her. "Get a Mediwizard. We need someone to look at him properly and find out whats going on. I'll stay with Theo."

He stood up quickly and took a long look at Theo as he said, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

He patted his friend on the arm and glanced quickly at her once more, blurry and red eyed before he started for the back door.

"You might want to change back to you first." She was still unnerved by his unfamiliar appearance and assumed everyone at Headquarters would be too.

With a flick of his wand over his head he was himself again. He continued to the backdoor swinging it shut behind him and she heard a pop as he apparated away a few seconds later

A minute later she had levitated Theo into the single bed in the grey room she had been in when she first arrived. She covered him up to his chest with a blanket and lightly stroked his forhead. He was so peaceful. She desperately hoped he was going to be okay- having formed an attacment to him over the past few weeks.

Her greatest hope was that Draco would be back soon, not only to help her new friend, but to come back to her with news about her other friends. The other reason that she only briefly registered was that she really did not want to be alone in the house and the thought of Draco coming back was something she actually looked forward to.

Then the tears started falling, her sobs gripping her chest and wrenching from her throat.

 **.x.**

 **Gaaaaaaah I loved writing this chapter so much.** **I hope you liked reading it!**

 ** _artisticbum -_ Slowbuurrrnnnnns are the best, and more realistic!**

 ** _dramoli -_ Interested to hear your theory on Penelope? PM me on here or find me on tumblr! You will hear more about Penelope in the next chapter.**

 ** _sammyjo0813 -_ I love writing Theo so I'm glad you enjoy reading him.**

 **Next chapter hopefully up next Friday.**

 **Keep reviewing and letting me know what you think... any theories... where the story is going... who you love, cause I love to hear them :)**


	11. The Pureblood Halfblood

**Friday 27th November - Early Hours of the morning.**

Pansy Parkinson was not one for secrecy. She was perhaps one of the most indiscreet women that ever walked the earth. Never able to keep her emotions in check, never able to keep her cool and always, always one to speak her mind whenever she felt like it.

She never thought before she acted, always was words first, thoughts later.

Her father knew this. Yet he volunteered her for what she could only describe as a ridiculous suicide mission. It was fine when she had her own apartment; well not her own but a borrowed one at least. It was full of Muggle items she couldn't quite work out and the clothes... the clothes could only be described as something an old lady would wear and that she would not be seen dead in. Long skirts, jumpers two sizes too big for the body adorned with frumpy flower patterns and the shoes! - oh the shoes. Clumpy 'sensible' shoes meant for good girls who cared about their posture and not for girls who cared about the stares of other men.

Not that she cared about the wandering eyes of the men she had been living with prior to this bout of esiponage. It was the hands she was worried about, and locking her bedroom door at night. If she wasn't here she would be stuck in a house full of angry, evil Death Eaters that had already crossed so many boundaries in relation to her personal space and private parts. At least she was here, amoungst people who quite frankly didnt give her a second glance - apart from that ghastly Weasley boy; Percy; the pompous one that always seemed to carry a briefcase. Thank Merlin she had nipped that in the bud as soon as she arrived.

Percy Weasley was the type of man that would buy you flowers if you were the one to start an argument with him. That's what he had done to her when he arrived at Penelope's flat three weeks ago. A bunch of flowers and string of apologies about his behaviour. He was the definition of a sap. Issuing apologies not meant for her. But _her_. The woman she was impersonating on a daily basis. Penelope Clearwater. Halfblood. Trusted member of the Order of the Phoneix, tasked with 'Watcher' status - Watching and protecting safe houses.

Penelope was trusted with vital information. She was a 'Watcher' of Redwater - which to the Ashes was a sub-par safe house. No one of particular interest living there - but after using Legillimens and then a rather good Obliviate on Arthur Weasley one slow Sunday morning, she procured the whereabouts of the safe house called White Rabbit. Low and behold this safe house held very valuable gifts the Ashes had been searching for. None other than Harry Potter and Hermione Granger themselves.

She had swiftly passed the information over to the Ashes by using something called a mobile phone. It was a ridiculous contraption, but worked well. Before being briefed for this assignment she had never heard of one and it seemed no one else had. Meaning it was a seamless and covert use of communication between herself and her Father. He would in turn pass on the information she gathered from the inside over to the rest of the Ashes and they would use it to their advantage - to injure, to maim and to kill.

So thats what had happened at White Rabbit. A few days after she had given up the whereabouts of the house, the Ashes attacked. Dean Thomas she vaguely remembered from school had been a casualty of the attack, yet Hermione Granger; the one they had been wanting most of all; got away from their clutches.

There would be another oppourtunity, another moment where she would be able to use Legillimens on another unsuspecting Weasley to find the location of another safe house called Blackgate. No one would suspect lovely, unassuming Penelope.

So what if the woman Pansy was pretending to be was locked up in a dirty dungeon somewhere, most probably being tortured... or worst most days. At least it wasn't Pansy. So what if she was lying and cheating and passing over informaiton to the Ashes. It was all to save her own neck and it was necessary if she was going to be kept safe after all this had finished. She had a guaranteed stash of Galleons held for her if she played her part well and that was exactly what she was planning to do. Play her part. Then get the hell out of England- and quickly.

Although right now she felt like she was sinking.

The information she had been passing to the Ashes meant they were ready for the Order and their raid on the old Black family home. So when the time came she took to her room prepared for her next part - helpful Penelope Clearwater. Distraught at what had taken place and furious for revenge on anyone who had been hurt in the process. Needing to find out who the traitor is and pointing the finger at whoever she could think most likely.

However, looking around her at the fallout of her actions, Pansy was actually nervous and dare she say it - a little scared.

That morning she had run into none other than he ex boyfriend Draco Malfoy. He was a complete surprise to her. No one had mentioned that he was working alongside the Order and the rumours from the Ashes side was that he and his Mother were in hiding in Italy. When she saw him, she was terrified. She had spent the majority of her childhood with him, growing up together, falling madly in love with him then realising that he was an absolute arse. He knew her better than most.

Another surprise that morning was seeing Theodore Nott. He had died. They had buried him. His Father had released a blood curdling scream and cursed everyone around him at the sight of his youngest son's battered and bruised body. He had killed a seventeen year old recuit in his anger. A merciless death, the cruicatus curse used repeatedly until his body no longer writhed in agony on the floor but gave up and stilled along with his heart.

Theo she didnt know quite as well. He was quiet, subdued but was know by reputation of his Father. Ruthless. Who knew Theo was so unlike his Father. That he would fake his own death in order to join the other side. It was a risky move but it was played well. No one knew. No one had any idea. Then again no one knew she was here. No one knew she was Penelope Clearwater. No one knew how the Ashes seemed to be so prepared everytime they would raid a house and no one would dare think anything less of Penelope Clearwater. Halfblood. Strong willed and full of courage.

However Pansy Parkinson was not Penelope Clearwater. She was not brave nor couragous. At this moment she felt small and weak and she was unable to move. Unable to walk into the room full of bloodied men and broken women and tears and sobbing and wails of pain. She felt like a deer in the headlights. Frozen watching the people from her past rushing to help one another. Watching as Potter wrapped his arms around the pretty Weasley girls' waist while she sobbed into his neck. Watched as Draco shook his head and whispered apologies to the rest of the Weasley clan. Watching a distraught Ron Welasey rock on his knees, screams ripping from his throat. It sent a shudder down her spine which she shook off. Despite all this she urged her legs to move, pushed her mouth to speak. She put on her best distraught face and stepped into the room.

"Percy? Percy's dead?" They turned round to looked at her. Her audience for the show. Potter, Draco and the Weasley's.

"My Percy?" She sniffed and squinted, the crocodile tears from her eyes falling down her cheeks whilst she sobbed silently clutching her hand to her heart. Ginny Wealsey was the first to move. She walked over to her and Pansy stuck out Penelope's arms, as it seemed the norm that all these people do - hug and cry and care for one another; it was awful. Instead her arms were pushed down and she was looking into the fiery eyes of one angry girl.

"Your Percy!?" She yelled in her face. "You broke his heart! You were horrible to him!"

If it were Pansy she would have slapped her and screamed _bloodtraitor_ in her face - but she wasn't Pansy. She was Penelope. Recent ex-girlfriend of one now deceased Percy Welasley. So Pansy screwed up Penelope's face and urged the crocodile tears from her eyes.

"I was scared! I pushed him away because I was scared!" _That should do it_ \- She thought.

Ginny continued to stare at her, her freckled cheeks puffy and red. Pansy thought she was going to burst into tears but instead she shoved her, hard. So hard that Pansy stumbled until Penelope's back hit the wall with a thud.

"Ginny!" Someone yelled.

It took a few seconds for her to register what had happened before anger flooded her whole body. She saw Potter was between the two of them and ushering Ginny away from her. At that moment Pansy didn't care about the 'Penelope show' anymore. She was just pissed off and she wanted to teach the bitch a lesson.

"You little bitch!" She yelled and she ran towards Potter and the Wealsey girl, claws out and ready to do some serious damage. That was until she was lifted into the air and carried from the room and out the front door, still kicking and punching and yelling after her.

"Calm down!" He yelled whilst scrambling to keep her arms in place. He finally got a hold of her, warpping his arms around hers so they were trapped against her waist. She continued to fight him but he was strong and his arms held hers in place. Her back was to his chest and he towered over her, despite how tall Penelope was.

"She's just lost her brother..."

"I dont give a fuck who she's lost! No fucking _bloodtr_... no one shoves me like that!"

Pansy was mortified at the words she had almost let slip from her mouth. That is not something that the prim and proper Penelope Clearwater would say. She would certainly not use the word Bloodtraitor. Shit shit shit.

She felt Draco stiffen, his arms still tightly wrapped around her but they were now both very still. Her heart was hammering in her chest. Had she just outed herself? Was it something so obvious that he would have picked up on it?

"I'm going to let you go." He said slowly by her ear. "But I need you to take a few breaths and calm down." He loosened the grip on her and eventually let her shake off his grip. She stepped away and scowled at the perfectly maintained roses along the pathway. She had to pull herself together or else this would be the end of her playing spy and perhaps the end of her.

Suddenly she felt a cool tingle rush through her body and she span around to face Draco, wand outstretched pointed towards her. Her knew. She was sure of it. The way he was looking at her. It seemed too familiar.

"What did you just do?" She asked in Penelope's meak voice, trying to put as much naivety into it as she could muster.

He scanned her face with a frown. "I was just checking something. Stand still."

She felt another wave of cold tingles glide over her body. After a few seconds he lowered his wand but still kept his focus on her face. Watching her closely. Eventually he shook his head and looked towards the house. Watching the shadows of the people moving beyond the windows.

"What were you checking?" Pansy asked in Penelope's shy voice.

"I was checking to see if you had been imperused. Or whether you were under the influence of Polyjuice." His gaze fell back on her and he ran a hand through his hair. An annoying habit he had seemed to have picked up and internally she thought - _what a joke he's become._

"What makes you think I'm under either?"

"I... Just had to check. After tonight I just wanted to make sure." A lack of confidance in his voice spurred her on.

"And?" She pressed. Her own confidance building. Of course he wouldn't have found anything.

"You're fine."

They looked at eachother for a few more moments before she smirked and turned on her heel into the house. Her cover was still there. He didn't know anything. Everything was so black and white to these people. They didn't understand the lengths others would go to, to get what they wanted. Polyjuice and Imperusement? They were so behind. That's why she was doing what she was doing. Thats why she was here and she was going to get the fuck away as soon as she had fulfilled her deal.

They would never win. They were too good.

.x.

Draco watched Penelope return to the house, making her way quickly upstairs. The nagging feeling of something not being quite right with her was still their despite his checks. At the moment he didn't have enough time to think about that and needed to get back to Hermione and Theo.

"Thanks." Harry said nodding when he reached the group gathered in the main room. "Henderson will go with you for Theo." He nodded to a small stout man currently tending to a young Auror sat a few feet away from them. "I'd come with you but I'm needed here."

"We can handle it." Thinking by handling it her was really referring to Hermione. The amazing way she had cared for Theo. The way she had seemed calm and collected whilst Draco had been on the verge of a panic attack. How she had wrapped her soft hands around his shaking ones, coaxing him out of his tremous with her large, sympathetic eyes and relaxing voice.

He shook the image of her from his mind and looked around the room urging the Mediwizard, Henderson to hurry up with his current patient. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that would not be satisfied until he got back to see Theo.

"We can't find Charlie." Harry whispered it so quietly Draco barely heard him. He turned abruptly to him.

"What do you mean you cant find him?" He asked glancing round the room to make sure no one overheard.

"He was paired with Percy... then when we found Percy, Charlie was no where to be seen."

"Shit." Shit indeed. Only yesterday morning Charlie's name had appeared on those cards they found on Theo's Father. Now after the failed raid on the black house he had gone missing? This did not bode well - _but what would they want with Charlie?_

"I haven't told Ron or Ginny, not after Percy. Not until we know." Harry whispered.

Draco looked around the room again, Mediwizards tending to broken arms, broken legs, wounds, cuts, bruises. All because of the failed raid. Only the Order and a few Aurors knew about the plans to raid the house which meant there had to be someone on the inside. Or someone passing informaiton. His thoughts wandered back to the blonde woman he had escorted from the room earlier. The eery sense that she wasn't quite normal was itching at the back of his head.

"We need to figure it out, Potter. Or this will keep happening."

"A full investigation will happen. Everyone will be checked." Harry said with a sigh.

"Former Death Eater will be first on the list." Draco quipped, knowing full well that he was right.

"You and Theo." Harry added.

"Brilliant." At least he was honest.

Henderson the Mediwizard had just started to pack away his kit, so Draco knew he only had a few moments to talk to Harry, but he really didn't know what he was going to ask. "What do you think about Penelope?"

"She was out of order." Harry said raising his eyebrows to him then looking over at his girlfriend with a frown.

"I checked her." Draco said quietly.

Harry looked over at him, a confused look on his face. "What did you check her for?"

"Polyjuice and signs of Imperusement."

Surprise overcame Harry's face. "And?"

Draco shook his head in dissapointment. "Nothing."

"So she's just a bitch?" Harry asked.

"Aparently so." Draco reluctantly agreed.

"Right, I'm ready to go." The mediwizard said as he ushered Draco towards the door. Suddenly Theo and Hermione were all he thought of and he began to walk quickly from the room.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Harry said over his shoulder. "Look after her!" He added as they walked from the house and down the cobbled pathway to the apparition point beyond the olive tree.

 _Look after her._

Three words he never thought he would hear asked of him by Potter. Draco stuck out his arm for Henderson to grab onto. As soon as the mans hand was gripping his arm tightly, Draco Apparated them back to Blackgate with a vision of Hermione Grangers face swimming infront of him and a sinking feeling in his stomach.

 **.x.**

 **So there we go!** **Bit different throwing a few other POV's in there but I think it's needed to get where I want to go** **. I like seeing Draco's side and what's running through his head so I hope it wasn't too weird** **of a change up.**

 **I'm sorry for the massive slow burn for the Dramione to happen... I know thats the main reason you are here... so it's on its way I promise... the barriers are slowly being pulled down and the next chapter is all them!**

 ** _dramoli_** **\- Your theory was partially right!**

 **Did anyone see it coming?**

 ** _Lena2244_ \- you guessed something was up with her too. Did you expect it to be Pansy?**

 **Let me know if you liked the chapter - love to hear your reviews!**


	12. Aftermath

**Friday 27th November**

Henderson had been gone for half an hour. Theo was fine - thank Goodness, bar two broken ribs and a weak heart. Draco's eyes burned into hers as Henderson said ' _You did what I would have done. He's alive because of you_ ' and it slayed her. She couldn't even explain the look. It was the most intense stare anyone had ever given her. After a few seconds she had broken eye contact but still felt his eyes on her. Watching as Henderson passed her the vials and told her to set an alarm - to remember to administer them to Theo.

Henderson was escorted back to Andromedas by Draco leaving Hermione on her own with Theo. She watched him for a while perched on the bed next to him. He looked grey, a contrast to his usual sun kissed olive skin. He was as pale as Draco. Draco who had come to her for help, who had screamed at her and begged her to help his friend. His friend that obviously meant so much to him.

He had a heart. He cared about things. Not that she ever though him devoid of feelings or emotions, but to see him so broken and so raw made something snap inside of her. But snap to what... she didn't know. But something inside her prickled with curiosity - to know more.

Time passed looking at Theo and before she knew it she heard the backdoor go, then his slow footfalls until she felt him in the doorway. She brushed Theo's hair off his forhead then rested her palm against his cheek. It was warm and full of life.

She felt Draco shuffle behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to him. He was resting against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. Their eyes met; his red and tired; and her stomach gave a small flutter. His lip twitched into what she could only describe as a forced smile. The smallest of smiles that he wasn't even sure he was happy giving - but what else was there to do or say at this time?

So she offered him the only thing she knew would maybe help in times like this. "Tea?"

.x.

They had moved in to the kitchen. She finished making the tea in silence, putting the sugar next to his mug on the table in front of him. She moved round and sat opposite him. She watched as he spooned one sugar into his tea and stirred it round and round. The spoon clanging against the ceramic mug over and over again.

"Why are you here?" The words had been dying to leave her lips for days. To find out why. He looked up at her confused by her words at first, then slow realisation crept over his face. The confusion turned to concern. He took a breath and looked back down at his tea.

"How did you get to be here?" She asked.

His gaze stayed on the spinning spoon in the tea. She was just about to say something else but she heard his quiet words in the silent kitchen.

"It's not easy for me to talk to you." It was no more than a whisper.

"Why?" She started although she knew the answer. So she said it out loud. "Because of my blood." It was a statement. He didnt look at her, didnt verify that was the reason but she knew. She was a mudblood after all. And she had the scar to prove it. "If we don't talk about this... this isn't going to work. Us being around eachother."

Still watching the spinning spoon he picked at a knot of wood on the surface of the table.

"Ignoring me is going to make things ten times worse." She said with an exasterbated sigh.

"I don't know why you're even trying." He said and her temper began building.

"Do you think that I'm not worth your time? That I'm lower than shit? Do you know that's what your lovely Aunt said to me less than a year ago." She pulled her dressing gown off over her shoulders feeling the chill biting at her and carefully placed her left arm face up on the table.

Draco stood up and turned away from her not wanting to see the word carved into her skin. He placed his hands on the kitchen counter and lent over, bending his neck and back slightly, hanging his head in between his shoulder blades.

"You can barely even look at me." It wasn't a question. Her eyes filled suddenly with tears. Full shame washed over her and she pulled her arm off the table and hid the scar on her lap. "After everything. After the War. After I helped save your fucking life." She choked back a sob and quickly wiped her eyes so he wouldn't see the tears.

"You don't understand." He whispered again. "I'm ashamed."

"Of talking to me? Or being near me?"

"Of what I've done." He turned around and rested against the kitchen counter. He lifted his eyes to hers. Looking between both of her full brown eyes. "I've had to face a few home truths these past few months."

"Poor you." She spat.

"Don't be sarcastic bitch, I'm trying to..." He stopped abruplty when he saw her tears.

She wiped her eyes with her hands again and pulled her tea to her lips. She drew the warm liquid into her mouth and swallowed. He was watching her as she placed the cup back onto the wood with a soft thud.

"I know what I was. I know what I did." He sat back down at the table and rested his arms on the hard wood. Hands clasped inches away from her hands knitted around her hot cup of tea. "I didnt want to help. I'd have rather hid in a hole for the rest of my pathetic life if I had a choice."

He stared down at his hands and picked at the skin around his nails. His eyes softened and the corner of his lip twitched slightly.

"Then Teddy... He's just a fucking kid." He was talking about Teddy Lupin, Remus and Tonks' child. The young boy who had pestered Draco to pick him up in his arms yesterday at Andromeda's house.

"This fucking tiny kid bred from a half blood and a werewolf... My family. I spent three weeks with this tiny, little thing. This tiny, little fucking thing who would follow me around constantly and change his hair when he was with me." She remembered Teddy slapping Draco's head, his dark brown hair turning a brilliant blonde. The happy smile on his face. The tender way he looked at Draco, his chubby arms circling his neck tightly. Draco's face had softened and that flutter she had felt in her stomach was back.

"I could spend hours apologising for my past. Or I can do what I'm trying to do now. To..."

"Redeem yourself?" She cut in. Thinking that's what he wanted. Redemption.

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I can't redeem myself. I can only move forward and hope for the best."

So he didn't want pity, he didn't want salvation. He just wanted to move past... move past his past.

"No one hates me more than me." He finished quietly and stood up from the table. He walked across to the hatch in the wall and pulled out a bottle of FireWhiskey.

"What happened after the trials?" She asked, knowing she was pushing him despite the intense conversation they had just had. He stilled for a second then closed the hatch. He placed the bottle on the table inbetween them then pulled two glasses from a cupboard and placed them next to the amber liquid. He took his seat and pulled the cork from the bottle.

"Rudolphus came two nights after the trials were over. We didn't have our wands."

He poured a small amount of Firewhiskey into each glass and pushed one towards her before taking a big swig from his glass. "He tortured my Mother. I woke up to her screams and when I got to her he..."

He poured more whiskey into his glass and took another swig. "I somehow managed to grab her and Apparate us to the outhouses on the Manor. Then we found some brooms and flew to Aunt Andromedas when she was strong enough a few hours later."

Hermione touched her forefinger to the rim of her glass and ran it round the edge. He watched her finger until she grabbed the glass and took a small sip. The smooth liquid tingling down to her stomach and settling the nerves rushing through her body.

"After everything Andromeda still took us in." He said.

She wiped the remnants of the liquid from her lips and looked at him frowning. "Why shouldn't she?"

"Same reason you shouldn't be doing this." He stated.

She huffed and drained the Whiskey in her glass. He watched as she grabbed the bottle and poured her own large measure.

"You're all the same. You're all inherently good." He copied her, draining his glass. He grabbed the bottle from her hand and began re-filling his glass. He must not have noticed when his fingertips touched hers. It wasn't even anything but she was very aware that he touched her.

"Being a good person isnt a bad thing." She said with passion and conviction taking another large sip of her drink.

"Being good to me is." He defended.

"No it isn't. We choose to be good people. Just like you didnt choose your up bringing."

"True however I cant exactly change that now." He said standing up and walking round the table to look out of the back door.

"No, but you're choosing your future."

He shrugged his shoulders choosing not to look round at her this time but she watched him. Watched his features in the reflection of the glass in the back door. She didn't know what he was looking at. It was too dark to see outside with the lights on in the kitchen so maybe he was looking at himself. Looking at the reflection of himself that was so different to who he used to be.

"The past should remain the past. We've both said things, thrown punches..."

He held up his hand, halting her words as he rolled his eyes. "Don't bring that up now." He took another sip then looked her way, "And it wasn't a punch, it was a slap."

She smiled to herself. It was most definitely a punch. She could still remember how it felt smashing her fist into his face. She would never have dreamed of ever laying a finger on anybody. She didn't like pyhsical confrontation but when it came to him... he used to bring out the worst in her.

"I would lay awake at night dreaming of punching you in the face."

"It was a slap." He corrected her again.

She ignored him and continued. "When I finally did it - it felt great. Like I had fulfilled my ultimate dream." He looked at her curiously. "Then the next day I felt awful. That I had shown you just how much you had gotten to me. And I hated the fact that I didn't keep my temper in check."

He rested against the door, his body partially slumped as his shoulder took his weight. The amber liquid swirled round his glass as he watched it as it nearly spill over the sides and then he stilled his movements and drained the glass. Then he moved back to the kitchen cupboards and started rummaging in them, opening and closing the doors like he didn't exactly know what he was looking for.

She broke his rhythmic rummaging with her next question. "Do you still feel the same way about me?"

He closed the cupboard door he was looking in slowly. The dull thud against the wood echoed round the silent space and he stayed very still. His hand gripping the handle, she could see the tension in his shoulders and she could tell he definitely wasn't happy about her asking that particular question.

"I'm not that person anymore." Was all he said.

She took a few moments and shook her head. "That wasn't an answer to my question."

"What will it do for you? Knowing my answer?"

He turned and rested against the kitchen counter again. Arms crossed over his chest. The sleeves of his jumper were pushed up around his arms and she could see the feint blemish of black on his skin. At that moment she realised just how important her question was, and just how much she wanted to hear the right answer from him.

"Will it change something?" He urged.

She tore her eyes away from his arm, to his eyes. "Yes." It would change everything. However he answered her question would shape their future, their interactions, their life in the house. The answer would resonate within her. If he answered how she deeply hoped he would it would mean everything they were fighting for and everything they had worked for was working. That even people that were on the other side of the war realised how fucked everything was. How things needed to change.

If it went the other way however; the worry of the words that made her stomach fall to her knees at the very thought; then it would mean everything was still fucked but that after everything - if this ever ended - the predudice would still be there. And nothing would have moved forward.

"Why?" An exhausted sigh released from his mouth and somehow also relaxed his shoulders. He sunk against the counter.

She shrugged. "I need to know. Either way. I need to know so I can cope... with this place and you."

"Well the thirteen year old me is still there." He said it with conviction and held her gaze. As if to burn the point into her. A part of her didn't believe him yet her skin burned anyway, cheeks flushing and stomach fluttering.

"The other part of me, the eighteen year old me is fighting harder. I know how fucked up everything was and how brainwashed I've been." And there it was. A small slither of light through the dark tunnel she had been walking through with him all these years. "Being around you..."

That took her by surprise. "Being around me what?" She pressed, concerned that maybe she had gotten this all wrong... the light slowly dissapearing.

"You make me question everything."

 _Fuck_.

"How?" She asked meekly, not even sure that the words had left her mouth because she was so astonished at his.

"You're different. So different from everyone else." Different? Because she was a Muggle? Or...

"What you did for Theo... I've never seen anyone do that before." It looked like confusion on his face, slight frown lines on his forhead and wrinkled lines around his eyes.

"It's a muggle technique." She whispered swirling the whiskey around her glass. Feeling lightheaded at the affects of the alcohol coursing through her veins.

"A muggle technique that saved his life... You're selfless." He said quietly and slowly. As if trying to convince himself of the fact.

"I'm not selfless..."

He pulled out the chair and sat down across from her, clasping his hands around his glass. Their fingers inches away. "You did that for Theo. You saved his life. You saved my friend... after everything, after school."

She shook her head. "I don't want to be that person. I don't want to hold the same predudices I used to."

"And what were they?" He inched one hand from his glass and rested it on the table, closer to her hand. Her stomach dropped again but she wasn't sure if it was because of his question or because she knew if she moved her index finger she could touch him.

"That all Slytherin's were the same. That you were inherantly evil. A bad person."

 _Beep Beep Beep_

The alarm on her watch signalled not only her need to check on Theo but also her need to get out of the room. It was fate; she conceeded. Not that she believed in the concept but if anything meant _leave now_ , it was the perfectly timed alarm that suddenly seemed to go off at that specific moment. She trusted her gut and stood up suddenly, yanking her hand away from her glass and away from the minute space between their fingers.

"I need to check on Theo." She didn't even look at him as she turned and exited the room, clumsily bumping into the table before she got to the door.

The heavy conversation of the past twenty minutes seemed to lift from her chest as she walked out of the kitchen and into Theo's room. She forgot about everything when she saw his pale face. It looked twisted in pain despite his unconcious state.

The Mediwizard Draco bought back said it could be hours or days before he woke up. The thought of a day without a joke from Theo seemed like something she didn't want to comprehend. She missed him already and she had only spoken to him hours before.

Footsteps on the hardwood floor along the hall pulled her from her watch over Theo and she moved to the bedside table sifting through the small bottles to find the pain potion.

She didn't realise how tired she was until it took all of her strength to attempt to pull the cork on the vial of pale liquid without it budging. A warm hand wrapped around hers and the bottle, stilling her efforts. There is was again. The flutter in her stomach- despite her not lifting her eyes to him. The flutter she didn't quite know how to explain - but she saw Dean as soon as it happened. Guilt swelling her insides.

"I've got it." He said using his other hand to pull the bottle from her fingers and releasing her hand at the same time. She turned and walked across the hall to the living room, taking a moment and breathing deeply to calm her unusually quickened heartbeat.

Draco looked at her confused as she walked back into the room a few moments later, dragging two couch cushions and a blanket behind her.

"What are you doing?" He asked standing up from Theo's bed and putting the cork back into the empty vial he had just given his injured friend.

"I don't want to leave him on his own." She shuffled further into the room and moved next to him feeling his eyes follow her movements. She knelt down moving one cushion against the wall and one on the floor to the side of Theo's bed. When she stood up he hadn't moved and with the cushion now taking up the floor, the space between them was barely anything.

She looked at the floor and stepped back away from him, letting him pass.

"I'll stay with him." He said quielty as he stepped past her, their arms lightly brushing against one another.

She still averted his gaze while she kicked off her slippers and sat down on the cushion on the floor, leaning against the cushion on the wall. "I've got the alarm so it makes sense I stay."

She chanced a glance at him and his pale grey eyes looked down at her. He nodded and left the room. Hermione expected to hear his footsteps plodding up the stairs but instead she heard him rustling in the living room before he reappeared in the doorway with two cushions in his arms.

"What are you doing?" She asked despite it being obvious what his actions were showing.

He dropped the cushions on the floor and moved one to the wall just as she had done. "If you're here then I'm here."

"You need sleep, you've had a rough night." She urged yet she hoped he wouldn't leave. She couldn't imagine being on her own.

"And you haven't?" He argued half scowling at her - then his features relaxed as if he internally checked himself, checked his actions. His soft features making him so much more approachable. She looked at him curiously, the soft glow from the bedside table making his grey eyes glimmer and almost sparkle. "If we take turns with Theo we both get some sleep."

A deal - a compromise.

"I'll take the first alarm, then you can do the next." He finished before settling himself down next to her and leaning against his cushion against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and she saw the black blemish on his skin again. She was suprised just how little it affected her. When she had seen it before, on Lucius and on Bellatrix it had sent shivers down her spine, perhaps because she knew. She knew that they were evil. That they were bad people. Yet the boy next to her, the young man sat to her right did not give her the same feelings; despite him being tarnished with the same mark.

He wasn't like them. He was intellignent. He was smart and he was different.

"Do you still think I'm evil?" His words ripped through her heart. Like a wounded deer he asked the question, his voice tender and careful.

"No." She answered plainly and honestly.

"You once called me a vile, evil cockroach... if i remember correctly."

"And you called me a Mudblood... repeatedly" She was quick to retort. She didn't mean for it to sound as bad as it did.

"Fuck." His head hit the wall with a dull thud as he looked towards the ceiling.

She copied him, head resting against the cold wall. "What we used to call eachother doesn't matter. Words don't matter now, Draco." She turned her head and looked to him. He turned his head and shuffled, their elbows knocking against one another as they were crossed over their chests. He glanced down at her elbow then back to her eyes.

"Our actions count. It's what we do from this moment that makes a difference to everything." She was sure she saw his eyes drift to her lips and the reaction her brain gave mimicked that of what she felt in her stomach. A flip. A sudden excitement. Then an overwhelming feeling of dread washing over her as Dean's face swam into her thoughts once more.

She closed her eyes and wished his soft, dark brown eyes from her mind. When she opened them a few minutes later, Draco was still looking her way. Firmly watching her face. Choosing to ignore his questioning looks she turned away from him quickly and slid her body down the soft cushion until she was curled under her blanket. Her back to him and her face away from his unsettling stares.

.x.

She woke sometime later to gentle murmering beside her and it took her a few moments before her eyes adjusted to the darkened room. He was lying down, curled on his sofa cushions facing her. Their faces close enough she could feel his breath. She didn't move. She must have been in a dream. He wouldn't ever be this close to her normally. In his sleep he looked to peaceful yet his arms were wrapped tightly round his body and she could see him shivering slightly.

She moved her head slowly, then pushed on the cushion lifting herself to a sitting position. The blanket slipped off her shoulders and she realised then that the room was quite cold and he had no blanket of his own. She didn't know whether it was her sleepy state or that she was actually concerned for his wellbeing, but she decided to surrender half of the blanket for him.

Her heavy arms opened out the blanket and she shuffled half of it over to him until it was coverng his legs and chest. As she lowered the blanket she cautiously let her hand rest on his arm, just below his shoulder. Was it that she missed touching someone or missed the close interactions she used to have? Or was it him and his patience and his words and his redemption that made her do it? Made her see him as a different person. One that wouldn't have a problem with being touched by her.

She withdrew her hand when she realised she could no longer feel his shivers or hear his low murmerings, hoping desperately she had not woken him up. She waited for a few seconds then gently withdrew her hand and pulled her half of the blanket back over herself turning her back to him once more.

As she settled back into her rhythmic sleep the man lying next to her had most defintiely been woken. She didn't notice his heavy laboured breaths as he tried to calm his erratic heatbeat from the effects of her tender touches or his pained face at her kindness. Or the fact that more than anything at that moment he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, to feel the warmth that she seemed to radiate so beautifully, seep into his shivering soul.

 **.x.**

 **So I hope you enjoyed the super long chapter! Sorry it's taken nearly two weeks to update - life has seriously got in the way recently.**

 **Please review!**

 **I love when you guys leave comments! It makes me believe you are enjoying the story and makes me want to write more.**

 **Next chapter hopefully not another two weeks away but I haven't started it yet so no promises.**

 **Thanks for all your reviews so far, please keep them coming!**

 **Elle x**


	13. Uncertainty

**Friday 27th November**

 _Hermione_

 _As_ _quiet as a whisper Dean's voice called to her, soft and familiar. The smell of him filling her senses as he wrapped his arms around her._

 _Hermione_

 _H_ _is face was warm with a full smile and he stroked her forehead lovingly. It's time to wake up he said._

"Hermione." She opened her eyes to find her best friend instead of Dean waking her from her deep sleep. He glanced to her side with a frown and she followed his eyes to the sleeping form of Draco Malfoy beside her. A blanket half covering the both of them.

She had a fleeting vague memory of her placing the blanket over him and her hand resting on his shoulder for a second too long. An image of Dean suddenly swarmed her mind. It must have been a dream.

Harry nodded towards the door when she looked back at him so she pulled back the blanket and pushed off the cushions trying hard not to wake Draco. She hovered for a moment over Theo, making sure she could still hear his rhythmic breaths and see his chest rising and falling before following Harry with quiet steps towards the kitchen.

He pulled her into a hug as she stepped into the dimly lit room and she welcomed his strong arms wrapped around her waist and the comfort that they brought her.

"I'm so glad you're safe." She whispered into his hair.

"It seems you didn't have a better night." She pulled back and shrugged, thinking of a sleeping Theo in the next room and how close they were to loosing him.

"Draco told me about Percy and Charlie." She said pulling out a chair. Harry did the same.

"We've found Charlie and he's alive. We sent scout Auror's back to the house and found him in the rubble not too far from where Percy was found. It must have been too dark to see him before."

Relief flooded her insides that Charlie was found safe. "Thank goodness. But Percy... I cant believe it."

"They're devastated... after Fred and everything."

The image of the lost Weasley popped into her mind, side by side as always next to his twin. Causing mischief where possible together. Ron had confirmed George was more sombre these day. Still helping and fighting but no laughter. Small smiles and huffs of appreciation was the most anyone seemed to get from him.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked despite knowing there was nothing she could do to stem the flow of grief the family would endure over the coming weeks and months.

Months? Is that how long it would take for her to grieve and move on from Dean? The empty feeling in the depths of her stomach and soul to remain that way for months?

"I'll let you know." Harry said placing his hand on hers and giving it a small loving squeeze. "Can I ask you something?" He said with a worried look on his face.

"Of course, Harry."

"Exactly how did you and Draco end up in there together?"

Not the question she thought he was going to ask but it felt awkward none the less. Why it felt that way- well she hadn't quite figured that out.

"I needed to keep watch on Theo and he stayed with me."

"And the blanket?" He cocked an eyebrow at her and gave her a knowing smirk.

She held up her hand to halt any accusations he was throwing at her. "Don't make anything of this Harry. Nothing happened." She lifted her hands in the air in fake exasperation. "It's Malfoy for goodness sake."

"Am I interrupting something?"

The rush of blood into her cheeks was so sudden and alarming she immediately stood up and went to the kettle to avoid Draco's steely gaze. She started pulling mugs out of the cupboards and filling the kettle as she watched him out of the corner of her eye walking into the kitchen and taking a seat opposite Harry. Right next to the chair she had been sat on.

Fuck

Whilst Harry filled Draco in on the news from the past few hours Hermione finished making a round of warm drinks. The clanging of the spoon in the ceramic mugs rang round the large kitchen but it seemed quieter than the thrumming of her heart against her ribcage.

"How's Theo?" Harry asked.

"Fine, thanks to Granger." The level of sincere conviction in his voice made her heart skip a beat and she could feel both sets of eyes on her back.

"It wasn't me, the Mediwizard did everything." She spoke into the steaming water she poured into the mugs and watched the pale liquid turn a dark brown.

"Granger you saved his fucking life." He said with an assertive tone that sent ripples through her stomach. Was this really happening? Or was her body playing tricks on her? She shakily poured the milk into the mugs and gave them one last stir. "Don't play it down, I was there."

She picked up two of the freshly made teas and carefully handed one to Harry. He took his tea quickly and drank hungrily. Draco on the other hand smirked as he watched Potter cry in pain and grab for his scalded tongue. Draco took the tea from her with two hands and his fingers grazed hers as she let go of the mug. She watched him hold her gaze, his eyes flicking between hers until he turned back to an oblivious Harry, now taking careful sips of his tea.

The internal struggle she had for the next two seconds as to whether she should walk round and sit next to Harry or sit in the seat next to Draco; the one that she vacated mere minutes ago; was itching at her skin. Rather than having an obvious Harry notice if she purposely picked another seat away from Draco, she slid into the seat next to the blonde clutching her own tea between her fingers and being acutely aware of how close they were again. Something that seemed to be reoccurring and not wholly unwanted.

She thought she saw Draco angle himself towards her but the thought disappeared as he spoke to Harry. "He has a weak heart and they've forbidden him for doing anything dangerous or strenuous until he gets better."

"He's not going to like that." Said Harry.

"He doesn't have a choice." Draco conceeded.

She was surprised at the way Draco could act so cooly after he had gave her such an intense stare. Hermione on the other hand was a mess and was concious of the warmth through her body, heating her cheeks. This was bad, so very bad.

"I'm going for a rest. I'm due back at lunch so if I'm not up by twelve will you come and wake me?" Harry said rubbing his eyes, picking up his tea and making for his bedroom.

"Sure." Hermione said meekly.

She watched her friend exit the kitchen then heard the padding of his feet on the creaky stairs. A few moments later more creaking then the dull thud of his bedroom door closing far above them.

Draco and Hermione sat in silence together. She carefully glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was leaning against the back of the wooden chair, one arm resting on the table nursing his tea, the other hooked over the back of the chair. His body was angled slightly towards her but not enough for Hermione to ever think he had done it on purpose. Why was that even a factor? Why did she even care?

"Should we talk about last night or forget it ever happened?" The questioning tone in his voice made her worry. Last night. The blanket. Did she really touch him? Or was it her imagination?

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The dive into our torrid past."

"Oh." She breathed a sigh of relief.

Last night was such a mess. It took them nearly losing Theo to have their first proper conversation. Anger. Opposition. Grief. Wasn't that ironic? The attributes of their relationship over the years being the main reason for their openness toward one another.

"Do we mark it down as a grief stricken moment of madness?" He asked somewhat confidently.

Hermione disagreed. No. Whilst it was grief stricken it wasn't madness. It was completely necessary. "Shouldn't we use it to move forward?" She questioned timidly.

"What's the point in going backwards." He stated.

"Exactly." Silence resumed but now it didnt feel so awkward. A quiet acceptance falling over them. Acceptance of them moving forward.

"What you did for Theo." He whispered.

"I'd do it again."

"For Theo?"

"For any of my friends." She reiterated.

"Theo is a friend?" He asked.

"Yes."

"And me?" That voice again. Like he was afraid of asking the question.

What was the answer? What was he to her? She had bonded with Theo. They had laughed and joked and really talked. For the past three weeks Theo was a constant source of conversation and yes friendship, however new. An open book waiting to be read and understood.

Draco on the other hand was an enigma. Someone she didnt talk to, didnt laugh with and didnt know what he was thinking. Ever. He was just someone she happened to share a house with and who avoided her at all costs.

"You are you." She offered.

"Your skills at deduction are truly paramount."

The sarcasm dripping from his words made her look his way and he had a faint smile ghosting his lips. He narrowed his eyes and shifted in his seat. His knee now pointing mid of her thigh and his arm still hung naturally over the chair back. She shuffled in her seat, not because of their close proximity but because of what it might mean. Her insides scrambling to understand the slight movements of his body. She really should have been evaluating her reactions to his actions but somehow, that skipped her train of thought.

"What do you think of me Granger?"

Well that was a perfectly timed question that she didn't have a clue how to answer. So _avoid avoid avoid_ was the way forward.

"We've had a long night shouldn't we just.."

Just as if he knew what she was going to say he interrupted her pitiful excuses.

"We need to do this. We got the mushy shit out of the way last night."

"What do you think of me?" That's it. Turn it back round on him. _When has that ever worked you idiot._

"I asked first." He pressed.

"So?"

"So, its polite to answer."

"Polite?" She countered.

"Yes, polite. Manners dictate certain rules. Someone asks you a question, you're obliged to answer it."

That was it. Someone trying to explain something to her always ruffled her feathers. Was it pride at his condescending nature that caused her to become irate? Whatever it was, it hit a nerve and before she knew it she off.

"Well first of all you're condescending, and sarcastic."

"There we go."

"-And utterly frustrating." She continued despite his interruption.

"I cant believe that was all it took." He mused, smiling to himself.

"-And you seem to think you know me, or can read me in someway." She finished with a huff of exasperation at his unyielding attitude.

"I tormented you for years so yes I know exactly how to get under your skin."

She gave him a steely glare. "You have know idea what's under my skin."

A look of surprise passed across his face then he composed himself. With the calmest of faces, he said his next words.

"No I don't." And then his gaze flicked to her lips and she couldn't help but look at his.

"I hated you. From the moment you first spoke those words to me I hated you." She said it to his lips and quietly.

"Hated? Is that past tense?" He moved and pushed his knee closer to the outside of her thigh.

"I now feel... indifferent." That was a lie. It wasn't indifference. It was something but she didn't know what. Then he leaned away from her slightly and smirked. _Fucking_ _smirked_. "That smirk is the main reason I want to punch you."

"You _want_ to punch me?" The smirk widened as if it was a good thing and she was baffled.

" _Wanted_ to..." She clarified. "Past tense."

"But you still want to punch me?"

"Not as much." Which was true. She didn't want to punch him, yet she did have a tiny urge to at least feel his skin under her fingers.

"Your turn." She said. Trying to move the subject away from her lucid thought of her hands on him.

His eyes scanned her face. "It feels different with you this morning, like last night needed to happen."

She smiled. "That's not answering my question."

"What was the question?"

She huffed at his response because she knew he was doing this on purpose. "How... how you feel about me now." No reason for the stutter. She was just struggling to put her thoughts into choerant words when she looked at him.

"Indifferent." He finally responded.

"You're using my words." She huffed again.

"Are we not able to feel the same way about one another?"

He definitely could not be feeling what she was feeling right now... the trembling at his close proximity and the anger she felt at her own body feeling this way and betraying everything she felt for Dean. She couldn't be feeling this... not for him... and not so soon after... She resolved at that moment that she was a terrible person.

"We are but..."

"Then I'm indifferent. Just as you are." He reached for his tea and drew it to his lips.

She clenched her jaw. "You're so stubborn."

"So are you." He countered then drank hungrily from his mug... with a smile.

She had to get away, to move away from him and away from whatever she might be feeling for him.

 _Feeling_... Fuck, she was _feeling_ something for him?

She took her cup to the back door and rested against the door frame looking out of the glass. She closed her eyes and thought of Dean and how she used to feel things for him. And now here she was a couple of weeks after his death, feeling something for someone else.

Not only someone else but Draco Malfoy – of all the people she could feel anything for... he was her worst choice. She was a terrible, terrible person.

"What do you make of Penelope?" His words made her jump and she opened her eyes to see him still sat in the same position at the table.

"I don't really know her but she seemed quite savage the other day."

He nodded his head and hummed under his breath, rasping his fingers on the wooden table. "When I went to get a Mediwizard this morning she had just found out about Percy and was... acting oddly."

"They only broke up a few weeks ago. It must have been a shock for her." Hermione assured him as she reminisced. Her and Dean had never been officially dating but his death had knocked her dramatically. Shock, anger, confusion.

"No I mean, she didn't seem at all sincere. Like..." He couldn't find the words so she helped.

"Like she was putting it on?"

"Yeah." He confirmed with a nod. "Then Ginny pushed her and she went mad and started screaming."

"Ginny is such a hot-head." Hermione whispered under her breath, knowing just how her friend could fly off the handle.

"After I took her outside to calm down, I don't know she was just..." He sighed.

"Grief does weird things to people." Was that what it was for her? Her grief making her feel things for Draco she would normally not feel? "Maybe she regretted breaking it off with Percy and now he's gone, the guilt is setting in."

"Maybe." He agreed but she could tell he didn't believe in it.

"I always say if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Just keep an eye on her if it's something you're worried about."

He had a worried look on his face as he continued to pick the knot of wood on the table.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I checked her for Polyjuice or Imperusement and didn't find anything."

He had already made the checks, already put himself out there to her saying... _I don't trust you_.

"-But you're still not convinced?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No."

She didn't know what else to say. Could it be that Penelope was just a nasty person?

"Was she always such a bitch?" Draco asked from his seat at the table.

"No I don't think so. Apparently a few weeks ago they had a small argument and she called it off, refused to be around him. Before that, from what I understand... The Weasley's loved her."

"So she just changes? Just like that?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "War changes people, Draco."

"I know that."

It was sharp and snappy and totally unexpected. _War changes people_. Could he have taken that as a slight against him? Her stomach dropped to her feet as she quickly evaluated the situation – his furrowed brow, his clenched fist on the table.

"I didn't mean..." She started.

"I get that War changes people. I get that people get messed up and warped and loose sight of themselves. I know that." He slammed his clenched fist against the wooden surface of the table and it echoed around the room. It made her heart skip a beat and a flush blossom in her cheeks. She was embarrassed she had made him feel angry or lesser in some way.

"I'm sorry." He said standing up and taking a step round the table towards her, a hitch in her throat caused her to momentarily lose her breath.

"It's fine." She barely managed a whisper as she pushed her shoulder further into the door frame. Trying to put as much space between them as possible.

"Something just wasn't right with her and I trust my gut instinct." He had a hand on the back of the chair and one pressed against his chest. She could see the heavy rise and fall of his chest as he took deep breaths to calm himself down.

She noticed her own struggling breaths in time with his and the thrumming of her pulse ringing in her ears as the silence that separated them seemed to close in. He was a few feet away yet he seemed closer to her than ever before.

He was looking at her again. His eyes roaming her face, flicking between her eyes and her lips. She was warm, despite the chill in the air, and she heated up even more when he stepped closer.

"Last night... the blanket. Did you..." He asked shakily still clutching his chest.

"You were shivering." She responded quickly, whispering.

"That didn't answer my question." He whispered back and stepped forward again.

Just one more step and she could reach out and touch him. Feel his laboured breaths. Was he feeling the same way? Confused and angry at his body betraying him like hers was? No of course not. He couldn't change just like that. So why had she? "Yes, I gave you some of my blanket."

His eyes closed slowly, then opened and focussed again somewhere between her lips and her eyes and the fire in her chest burned. Something deep inside her aching.

A loud pop made the two of them jump and Draco was next to her in a second, watching the figure of her best friend walking towards them and crossing the invisible boundary that was the large patio in seconds.

Draco reached around he and pushed the back door open just as the tall red head reached the step. Hermione; thinking nothing more than the third of her soul standing in front of her, distraught with grief; lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Ron's neck as soon as he stepped inside.

Draco stepped away from their embrace, not too sure of his place in the situation as Ron wrapped his arms around her waist and quietly sobbed into her busy caramel hair.

"I'm so sorry, Ron." Hermione eventually said, softly taking her friends face in her hands and staring deeply into his brilliant glazed blue eyes. Ron said nothing as Draco turned his back to the scene and absent-mindedly picked at the kitchen side.

"I just... I just came to check on Theo..." His voice broke and a solitary tear fell slowly down his freckled face.

"Theo is fine. Here come sit." She ushered him to a chair at the table but he stepped away and around her.

"I... I'll be back I just need to make sure."

Hermione stepped away from him slowly and nodded her head. It wasn't surprising that he would want to make sure... that he would want to check on Theo. He was there when he went down, when he took the spell at the raid. Ron was the one that told Draco to take Theo to safety.

As her friend left her and Draco alone in the kitchen she sat down at the table and thought about Ron and what he must be going through. Checking on his friends to make sure they were alive... despite another of his brothers now dead.

"I'm going to go up for a bit."

She moved to watch Draco walk quickly from the room but not before he glanced her way with an unusual stare. As if he knew the world and she knew nothing. Then he dissapeared round the door and she heard his footsteps, listening intently for every creak on the stairs before his door closed shut with a click that seemed to echo round the silent house.

She breathed heavily, wondering what he would be doing for the next few hours and when exactly she may see him again. Then she shook herself, resolved to ignoring her unusual reaction to him. Pushing any thoughts of Draco Malfoy away and at that moment focussing on reality and her friend in the other room and his wonderful family slowly loosing its members to this terrible War.

 **.x.**

 **Another Dramione filled chapter - I hope you liked it!**

 **And wow! 11 reviews for that last chapter! It might not seem much to you guys but to me that's amazing! Have never had that many reviews for a single chapter before and it's so cool to see that you guys are enjoying it!**

 ** _imperialboob_ your review meant so much after a rubbish couple of weeks so thank you immensly :)**

 **Love all you guys for your awesome words**. **I really hope you like the next few chapters. I've started on Ch14 and planned atleast six more so far so hang tight :)**

 **Elle x**


	14. Denial and a Plan

**Wednesday 9th December**

Almost two weeks had gone by since the raid. Two weeks since Percy was taken from them and the Auror count helping the order reduced by two.

Theo had woken up two days following when Hermione was washing his face with a damp flannel. He had given her the strangest of looks before she grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. You're okay she had said over and over and he nodded and looked to the ceiling and had been silent until she had made him a warm drink and given him some more pain potion. Then the jokes had started.

 _'If nearly dying was what it took to get you to touch me then I would have done this sooner.'_

Neville burst out laughing when Hermione's cheeks turned pink. Not because she thought of Theo in that way but because she didnt want anyone to think she thought of him in that way. Especially when Draco locked his gaze onto her face, watching for her reaction.

She could tell Theo was only humouring her. Making a joke. You can always tell when someone is interested she thought and she could sense Theo wasn't. Then again she had never been great at reading signals. It had taken Dean kissing her first after weeks of stolen glances and longing looks to make her believe he was even remotely interested.

That was when they were alone. In their own bubble of the safe house and cut off from anyone else. Where they could do whatever they wanted and be selfish and together. Here, at Blackgate it was different. They were in the thick of it. There were so much more important issues going on around them it seemed silly to act on those impulses. War had a funny way of making you feel guilty for doing anything other than getting on with the necessary.

The immediate few days after the raid she barely saw Draco. Much to her disappointment. Then three nights later; just when she gave up hope; he had joined her one night in the living room. He had picked up a book and sat on one of the comfy armchairs whilst she was stretched across the sofa and they had read in silence together.

Not that she did much reading. She fidgeted the whole time, conscious of the way she was sitting. She lifted her knees to the sofa and tucked her legs underneath her. After a few minutes she moved again worrying that her body language; knees towards him along with her body slightly angled his way; would say something.

Not that he seemed to care. He was deeply entranced by the book he had selected and didn't seem to notice the hundred times she glanced his way throughout the hour. Then just as she had settled herself and managed to read a few pages, Dean popped into her head. Before she knew it Draco was asking if she was okay as she had been staring at the other empty worn armchair across the room for what could have been ten minutes.

She looked at him. His features that for years had been a source of irritation now seemed entrancing and the guilt swallowed her until she couldn't bear to be around him. She left the room suddenly without a word and locked herself in her bedroom for the rest of the night.

The rest of the week was spent going back and forth from Andromedas, interrogations and questioning in full swing for everyone. When Charlie was back to full health a week after the raid he was greeted with smiles and hugs and pats on his back but just gave small nods in response to his family and friends. Grief taking over another. Unable to smile or be happy. Another brother lost. Charlie's younger brother. Someone he was supposed to look after and keep safe.

With Harry spending most of his time at Headquarters, Neville at his Grandmothers house and Theo still not able to get out of bed for longer than an hour a day – Hermione and Draco fell into a routine of sitting and reading together on an evening. Hermione would light a fire and Draco would bring them tea to drink.

The silence that initially felt so awkward began to feel comforting. If there was silence at least he was there to be silent with her. It was better than being on her own.

So here Hermione was. A week and a half later sat for the first time in as many days on her own in the living room. She was reading a book from the limited supply the house provided and waiting for Draco to come back from being called to Headquarters a few hours before. She hated the silence without him. He seemed to make the quietness more bearable.

"Fancy some company?"

"Theo what are you doing? You should be in bed!" She called standing up and helping him through the door and into the closest armchair.

"I'm bored. And I'm not going to get better just sitting around."

"Do you need a drink or some food?"

"No just some company." He said slowly adjusting in his chair with a pained look on his face. "How's Ron doing?" He asked. "And the rest of the family?"

"I saw him yesterday. He's... okay." Which he was. Or at least seemed to be.

"Good." He nodded his head.

"He seemed better after seeing you Sunday." Ron had turned up sullen faced to check on Theo again. Hermione had told him that he was fine but he still came to check. To make sure his friend was okay. To make sure he hadn't lost anyone else. Hermione's heart sank for him.

"Did he? I suppose it was my admitting to him being a better Wizards Chess player." She remembered listening to Ron's quiet chuckles in Theo's room from the kitchen and she had never been happier for Theo Nott's life as she was at that moment.

"Its been quiet round the house." He stated.

"Yeah."

"Which also means no arguments." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Draco and I?" As if she didn't know that's who he was talking about. "Well we're... moving forward."

"Good." He smiled.

She smiled back at him but lost her train of thought soon after. Her smile faded as she thought more about Draco.

"How are _you_ doing?" Theo pressed.

"I'm fine." She said quickly. Too quickly and Theo wasn't buying it.

"Anyone that is fine doesn't say, 'I'm fine'." He said with an air of mockery to his tone. As if he knew it all and she couldn't get away with anything.

She sat back into the sofa cushions and pulled a red patchwork blanket over her legs, fighting the chill in the room despite the fire crackling away to her side.

"It's coming up to a month. That I've been here... and Dean."

"You miss him." Theo said.

"I think about him all the time."

"That's not surprising. You were close."

"We were... very close. And I'm worried I'm forgetting... us. Who or whatever we were." She finished with a sigh and rested her head on the back of the sofa looking up to the ceiling.

"Oh." Theo whispered.

She counted the cracks in the plaster just so she had something to do. Something to distract the tears that were trying to escape her brown eyes.

"Did you love him?"

"Yes." She did. "I mean, we were friends first... then at the safe house it was just us. Two months of us."

Finally, she lifted her head, met Theo's soft smile and shrugged.

"- And it was hard not to love him. He was charming and lovely and caring."

"There is a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone." Theo said.

She was visibly shocked at his words. After a while her foggy thoughts cleared. "Is there?" She whispered.

"Yes."

"Have you ever been in love?" She asked. Trying to change the spotlight away from her.

"Yes." He confirmed.

Her eyes popped. "Who's the lucky girl?" She questioned, intrigued as to who it could be.

"Well that's the million galleon question isnt it."

Theo had never spoken of someone before. Never mentioned someone he was close to. It's not exactly like there was a lot of choice when you were in a situation like this. A situation like War. Could it be Ginny? Or Luna?

"Look..." Theo started. "I love Draco, but I'm not in love with him. I love him as a brother and a friend and I'd be devastated if anything ever happened to him. I couldn't imagine life without him in it."

She was confused. She was trying to piece it together in her mind but before she could finish he started again.

"When you're in love with someone... it's a fire. A roaring fire burning inside and you don't even know it's there until one day it finally burns your skin and then you ache." His eyes found hers. "You look at them and ache because this earth is nothing without them. You need them. To hold and to cling to and to make sure everything is okay because they make you feel safe. They make everything right. They make everything make sense after all this time of everything being fucked." His hand was gripping the front of his jumper and he looked more in pain now than he had over the past few days.

She wondered just who he was thinking of. Who it was that Theo couldn't imagine walking the earth without. The girl that made him ache. The girl he burned for.

"I don't know if I've ever felt that." She had a flash of this room. Only it wasn't Theo but Draco and he was sat next to her on the sofa, reading whilst the flames roared in the fireplace and in her chest. He made her warm. He made her cheeks burn. Or maybe it was just the heat from the fire.

"Just because you weren't in love with Dean doesn't mean your relationship meant any less. Hermione, you can grieve for him however you like but don't feel guilty about the thought of moving on. You loved him and that's enough."

Was it obvious? Could he see how much she seemed to change whenever Draco walked in a room? Was the pulsing of her heartbeat so loud he could hear it thrumming against her chest? Did he judge her as she judged herself? For feeling something for Draco when a month ago she was wrapped in Deans arms. She rubbed her face in her hands. Not wanting to look at him. Not wanting to see his condescending and knowing stares.

The back door clicked open then closed shut soon after with another click. She lifted her head to the doorway expecting to see Harry, yet five seconds later it Draco was in the doorway looking somewhat dishevelled.

"Is everything alright?" She said with a worried edge to her voice and she stood and moved a step towards him.

"I'm fine." He said avoiding her questioning stare. She could tell he wasn't fine. He moved past her; Hermione being acutely aware when his arm skimmed hers; taking off his jacket and draping it over the back of the spare armchair before he took a seat at the other end of the sofa.

She briefly looked at Theo who widened his eyes in surprise then she took her seat back on the sofa and turned towards the sullen man beside her. "Draco..."

"I had to go back to the Manor." He said abruptly with his arms crossed over his chest, staring into the roaring fire.

"What?" Theo asked at the same time Hermione asked why.

He took a few seconds before he answered. "They needed me to look for something." He looked at Theo as if for help. She could tell he didn't want to talk but felt he had to. All Theo did was give him a small nod yet it seemed to kick start something inside him. He uncrossed his arms and turned his body towards them both. "They think... they think Rodolphus hid something there."

"When?" Hermione asked.

He turned towards her, his hand resting on the cushions between them. She looked down at it then back up to his face and felt the flush creeping into her cheeks. "He had access whenever he wanted. It could have been at any point." His eyes flicked between hers.

"What is it?" Theo asked and Draco looked away from her to concentrate on his friend.

"The Philosophers Stone."

Like a lightbulb that had flicked on, Hermione's reaction was instant. "The Philosophers Stone?"

Draco confirmed with a worried look across his face and a slow nod. Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

"But... that's impossible. The Philosophers stone was destroyed." The level of conviction in her voice could have almost made them believe her if it wasn't for the shaking of Draco's head and the sincere look on his face.

"Apparently not." Draco confirmed.

She opened her mouth to retort, to say again that it was completely implausible that this was correct. Dumbledore had confirmed to Harry in their first year; almost eight years ago; that the stone had been destroyed. He couldn't have lied. He wouldn't have lied about this... surely .

"Are you sure it was the Philosopher's Stone?" It was a waste of a question but she had to be sure. She had to be certain she hadn't misheard.

"Yes." No sign of a joke. "Harry told me."

"Harry knows?" Her heart sunk to her stomach. He knew and he didn't tell her?

"He came with me." Draco confirmed.

"I'm sure there's a reason he didn't tell you." Theo commented trying to make her feel better.

"Oh. Speaking of..." Draco's hand pressed further into the sofa cushions leaning just that bit closer to her. All thoughts of Harry disappeared as she watched his eyes glimmering from the fire. "Lestrange's father was Tiberon Lestrange."

"What!" She half shouted then covered her mouth with her hand as she noticed the shock pass across his face at her outburst. She tried to keep calm but he insides were bubbling with the knowledge this news bought. "Really!?"

"I should have told you earlier but I've been... distracted." He looked over at Theo quickly, then pushed himself slowly away from her and rested his back on the arm of the sofa.

"Why do you want to know that?" Theo asked and Hermione was more than happy to answer his question. She shuffled on the sofa turning herself towards him.

"I've been trying to trace the Lestrange and Carribald family." She began to explain.

"Carribald? Merlin that's the family that were murdered. Fucking gruesome."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, the book says the daughter survives but I cant find her family history anywhere."

"Well she was adopted by the Bathsuselows." Just as if it were obvious Theo dropped the revelation.

"What?"

"Yeah I'm sure if it." He nodded just to let her know he was extra sure.

"It's not in the book..." Hermione said quietly, mouth slightly open trying to piece together the family tree in her head.

"Do you have the book here?" Theo asked.

"Yes." She lent over the side of the sofa to the books stacked to its side and rummaged for the right text. She flicked quickly to the right page and passed it over to Theo.

"There... look." He said after searching the scripted writing and holding it out for her to see. She stood up and stepped towards him, searching the page to see what he could see.

"What?" She asked, not understanding. Draco had left the sofa pulled up next to her, leaning over her shoulder to where Theo's finger was pointed to on the page.

" _Agatha, Agatina._ " Said Theo.

"Shit..." Draco said rubbing his face with his hand.

"What?" Hermione turned to him more confused than ever – And then he was so close she had to step back or she may have knocked her head off his chin. He however seemed to move closer to her and the glimmer in his eyes shone gold from the flames.

"In wizarding families..." They both turned suddenly to look at Theo who continued unaffected by their unusual exchange. "If they ever adopt; which to be fair is rare; the child takes a derivative of the name of the new parent. So Agatha, Agatina. If it was a boy it he would have taken the fathers name. So Romulus was the dad... it could have been Romus, or Roman."

"So the Carribald girl is Agatina Bathsuselow?" She asked... just to make sure.

"Yeah. Irena."

"Irena?"

"Irena Carribald." Theo confirmed.

The Lestrange family tree now complete; the missing piece of the puzzle solved; a plan began to form in her mind. "We need to go to the house." She turned to Draco still standing so close to her.

"What am I missing?" Theo said touching her sleeve lightly. She turned away from Draco to fill in the blanks for Theo.

"Lestrange is Irena Carribalds descendant. He was spotted in Shrewsbury, and the Carribald family lived in Piccklescott which is less than five miles from here."

"Hermione you're getting ahead of yourself." Draco said quietly, his words tickling the hair by her ear causing he skin to prickle.

"I'm not." She said assuredly looking over her shoulder at him and giving him her most confidant of stares, faltering when their eyes locked. "There is a reason why he was in Shrewsbury. Piccklescott is the only reason I can find. He was here. Probably at the house and we need to find out why." Her eyes dropped to his lips.

"I don't think..." He glanced down to hers.

"What if that's where he's hidden the stone?" She urged quietly, placing her hand on Theo's chair to steady herself. Excitement building inside her. The thought that her sitting for hours on end reading had finally come up with some good. That they had figured out a missing piece of a puzzle. Or was it her closeness to him? The air feeling hot as she struggled to find her breath.

"You just said the stone was destroyed." Theo said somewhere far away.

"But what if it wasn't." She whispered, quietly. As if she was worried about speaking the next words. As if speaking them too loud would make it more real. She couldn't imagine a life, her life, future lives with Rodolphus in it and he able to sustain his life despite what ever they tried. He would be invincible. And they would fail. "He could live forever."

Draco opened and closed his mouth, the pieces falling into place in his own mind and the realisation of what that could mean setting in. Eternal life. Like Voldemort. The struggle endured to rid the world of that evil just for then to face one equalling that. It was unfair.

"Come with me... just to check it out." She whispered. Too afraid. He moved closer even though it seemed it wasn't possible.

"How are we going to get there?" Theo asked. This time he seemed closer and her head snapped towards him. She saw his furrowed brow and confused face and felt the flush of guilt flood into her stomach. Weighing heavy. She was a bad person. Regardless of who she was feeling things for. Whether it was Draco or someone else. This was not the time for feelings. This was a time of War. And emotions couldn't be a factor. They just had to get the job done. Or else there would be no future to care about.

"Well." She began, moving away from Draco to the other side of Theo's chair. Feeling cold. "We can't Apparate as we've never been there before." Draco watched her with a blank face over his friends head. "So we walk." She finished. He didn't move a muscle.

"Walk?" Theo asked with surprise and disgust. "Walk five miles?"

"Three... maybe four." She shrugged.

"Well that's classed as physical exertion... so I'm out." Theo smiled up at her.

She looked at Draco. His hands by his sides and breathing slowly, chest rising and falling. The silence was back, so silent something was screaming between them.

"I'll come... but we're not going in." He stepped back and took her seat on the sofa. Relaxing into the cushions. "If he's hidden something there, the house is going to be rigged with traps." He kicked off his shoes, resting his feet on the coffee table.

"Thank you."

As always, her next thought was on preparation, so she turned to the bookcase and started pulling any books that she could find that mentioned concealment charms.

"When do we go?" He called from the sofa.

She looked over her shoulder to him, her hair falling down her back. "Friday?" She asked, watching his eyes.

"Friday." He nodded and darted his eyes away from her, leaning over to pick up a paper from the table.

As she turned back to the books she didn't notice the shady look Theo gave Draco. Or the returned look Draco gave. A look that said _dont, just leave it_ to which Theo responded by holding his hands up in surrender.

 **.x.**

 **Eeesshhkkkk I'm annoyed at myself for dragging this out. Next chapter... just hang on one more chapter... I promise!**

 **I've already written half of Chapter 15, just finishing it off in the next day or two. Desperate to get it out by Friday for you all as I can't wait to hear your reactions! I'm excited in anticipation!**

 **AGAIN YOU GUYSSSS. Your reviews mean the world to me. So happy you all like it. I promise it's not going to be a slow burn from now on. Things are picking up pace.**

 **Aside from the Dramione (but also tell me if you like that too) how do you like the story?? Let me know!**

 **Elle x**


	15. Preparation and a Long Walk

**Thursday 10th December**

She dreamt of Draco last night. They were at the Carribald house, only it was her home. Her family home she shared with her parents and she was searching the whole house until she found Draco at the table, eating dinner. Before she could ask him what was going on a bright light blinded her and she was back at White Rabbit. Holding a bloodied Dean in her arms and she couldn't help the scream that ripped from her lungs as she watched him go still.

She was woken by Draco's pounding fists against her bedroom door and his shaky voice calling her name. She wiped away the tears staining her cheeks and turned to the window, morning light streaming through the frosty glass.

"Hermione! Let me in!"

" _I'm fine._ " She called quietly, coughing the lump in her throat away before she tried again. "I'm fine."

"Open the door." He called.

"Draco, I'm fine." This time with more conviction. She pushed herself off the bed and walked with shaking legs towards the door, hearing the floorboards creak under her steps. Her must have heard them too.

"Hermione." This time it was soft and quiet and riddled with what sounded like concern... or was it pity? "Open the door."

Her hand rested on the wood for stability, whether it was to take the pressure off her heart or her legs she didnt know. She could hear his heavy breaths on the other side of the door. She so desperately wanted to open it. To test the water. To see what he would do. But she couldn't. She couldn't let it happen and why would he? After all these years?

"Please..." She pleaded with him softly and rested her head against the hard wood. "Just go. I'm fine."

For what seemed like forever, she stood with closed eyes just listening to him breathing, matching his rhythmic breaths to hers. Wishing she could remove the barrier between them. After what seemed like forever when in face it was only seconds, the floorboards creaked on the other side of the door. The door clicked shut and the silence returned, consuming her. She had never felt more alone.

.x.

Draco closed the door shut behind him softly and stood with his hand on the handle for some time. Debating whether he should go back and demand she open the door... just to make sure. It was after all his responsibility to check. To make sure that the house was secure and that she was... that she was alright too. Before he had made up his mind, he heard her door open, quick footfalls along the hallway then the bathroom door closing followed by the beating of water against the bathtub.

He moved to sit on the edge of his bed before covering his face with his hands and dropping back to lie on top of his ruffled bedsheets. It wasn't the only internal battle he had been fighting lately and certainly not the only one that involved her. The first one, the one that started this all off was because of Theo and he would blame him to the ends of the earth for getting cursed during the raid. It meant they talked and spent time with one another, meaning he got to know her and who she really was – not just what her blood categorised her as.

The second was because of Potter. He had told him to look after her. He and Neville were always out and Theo was still too frail to even walk to the kitchen. There was only Draco here in any real sense and he had tried hard to make an effort because Potter had told him too when really he wanted to lock himself away from her. That was what he told himself anyway. That's what he told himself when he sought her company in the evenings. That he did it because he had to, not because he wanted to. Because it was his job and not because he loved the silence and the fire and the books and her smell.

When he awoke to the sound of her screaming he was back at the Manor, watching his Aunt carve mudblood into her arm and torture her with the cruciatus curse over and over. Then he was on his feet and flinging his door open and trying and failing to open hers. He banged his fists so hard on her door he had grazed his skin and he could feel it stinging. It hurt and he loved how it felt. He was feeling. For the first time in a long time.

He dropped his hands from his face, resting them on his bare chest and watched the ceiling carefully, listening for her movements in the bathroom. He could hear wave after wave of water hitting the tin bathtub as she washed herself. He heard the distant flick of the shower gel cap and he could see her. In the steamy room, squeezing the creamy liquid into her hands and washing her soft skin and running her fingers through her hair.

"Fuck." He said quietly to himself, grabbing a pillow and covering his face to muffle his sins. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

.x.

Hermione spent the evening packing and repacking a small leather backpack she had found in the depths of the wardrobe in her bedroom. She had charmed it just as she had done with the small beaded bag that had been at her side for the year she had been away with Ron and Harry chasing after Horcrux's. She would have take it with her but with the long walk they had in the morning a backpack seemed a more efficient fit for the occasion.

She had also managed to convince Harry to let her borrow his invisibility cloak, although she was shady on detailing exactly what she would need it for. She was sure if Harry knew they were here, out in the open then he would have a fit. If she turned out to be correct about the house them she would tell him.

Just as she was repacking the various potions, medical supplies and spare clothes for the third time in the past hour there was a small rasp on the bedroom door.

"Come in." She called distractedly from her spot on the floor, resting on knees and sitting back on her heels at the contents of the bag strewn across the floor.

The door opened but no one entered the room. She looked up confused after a few seconds and found Draco in her doorway looking round her room until his eyes fell onto her and the mess on the floor in front of her.

"That's a lot of things." He said.

"Its best to be prepared."

"Are you sure about tomorrow?"

"Yes." She said assuredly.

"What do you think you'll find there?"

"I don't know." She really didn't but had tried to be ready for anything.

"We should go disguised."

She gave a small smile before picking up her wand and waving it over her head and whispering silent incantations. She saw the change in Draco's face as Hermione's eyes turned a deep ocean blue and her hair a Weasley shade of red falling straight instead of her usual signature curls.

"Why am I not surprised you've already planned that."

"Don't joke." She gave him a stern glare.

"It's certainly different." His face and eyes seemed so uncertain and wary of the girl now sitting on the floor in front of him.

"What about you?"

Within a few seconds his hair had turned black and the bright blue eyes she had seen on him a few weeks ago overtook the sharp grey.

"You look odd."

"There's no need to be rude. Did you pick that hair for a particular reason?"

They moved their wands at the same time reversing the charms and returning to their natural states.

"No."

"Wishing you were a part of the Weasley family?"

She furrowed her brow. "I already am. Without the need to marry one of them if that's what you mean." It sounded snappy and it was meant that way. "Would you prefer me a brilliant white blonde like yourself?"

"I wouldn't prefer you anyway." He said with a look of utter disdain across his face.

"Right." She said slowly, looking away from him and down to her hands. He wouldn't prefer you anyway. He wouldn't prefer you either way. "I've got packing to finish. You can shut the door behind you." She said reaching over to pick up some pain potion she had taken from Theo and packing it into one of the easy access pockets on the side of the backpack.

When she looked back up he was just opening the door to his bedroom but caught her eye just before he closed it. Lingering for just a second too long before it closed.

 _He would prefer anyone else to you._

 **Friday 11th December**

"Have you remembered your hat and scarf?" Theo joked patting him on top of his head.

"Don't." Draco batted his hand away then ran his hand through his hair in case his friend had messed it up.

"What? I wont let you leave the house unless you're appropriately dressed for your big adventure!" He wagged a finger in his face which Draco swiped away again. He looked over at Hermione; who was laughing at Theo as usual with a warm smile that could turn anyone's head; wishing she wasn't here so he could punch him in square in the face.

"You're ridiculous." He said, scowling at his friend.

"You wouldn't have me any other way." Theo winked.

"Well that's debatable."

Theo smacked him on the arm, his face now serious. He nodded towards him. "Good luck." Draco nodded in return. "And watch out for her. She's feisty."

He turned to look at Hermione who rolled her eyes with annoyance despite the smile on her face. She watched Theo shuffle out of the kitchen and Draco watched her. The profile of her face was so soft with dotted freckles on her nose and cheeks and deep brown eyes that he decided looked more caramel when the flames from the fireplace made them shine. He couldn't help but look and he struggled to look anywhere else.

"Right." She said with a smile. Another smile that creased her nose. "Lets go." She waved her wand over her head, changing into her redheaded self and Draco followed suit, morphing into his black haired, blue eyed disguise.

.x.

"How long does it take to walk five miles?" Draco asked, panting as they reached the peak of a particularly steep bit of road.

"It's really only three or four miles, so an hour. Maybe two?" She responded taking a sip of water from her bottle and replacing it into the pocket of the bag and she continued forward.

"I don't think I've ever walked that far." Draco said from a few paces behind her.

"Not even for fun?" She called over her shoulder.

"You walk for fun?"

"Well, sometimes yes."

"Why?" He asked, amusement in his tone.

She wondered whether he loved anything. Did anything give him pleasure?

"When I used to go back and visit my parents in the holidays we would walk up this hill not far from our house. It always helped me focus, you know. The fresh air, the exercise, the views."

She looked back and he shook his head at her a small smile on his lips. She looked ahead, over the stunning Shropshire countryside. The purple heather dotted on the tops of the hills and ferns and trees lining every road.

"I remember one time when my parents and I had had a disagreement, I upped and left the house and ended up walking around aimlessly for hours." She remembered it well. The argument around whether she should go back to Hogwarts the previous year. "When I got back my head was clear. I was able to process my thoughts and feelings." Two weeks later she erased any memory they had of her from their minds and gave them a new life and a different purpose.

She turned round to look at Draco holding out her arms and breathing deeply. Breathing in the fresh air. Knowing her family were still safe made the decision worthwhile.

"It's as if the fresh air clears the cobwebs away in my head. Makes it less foggy." She walked backwards a few paces smiling at him whilst he was smirking at her. His unusual blue eyes and dark hair looking back but the smirk was the same.

"Then again when Harry, Ron and I were away last year I got completely fed up of walking. We tried to use as little magic as possible." She turned back round and continued on.

After a while his long strides caught up to her and they walked side by side, their feet drumming on the floor in time with one another's.

"What were you doing before you got bought to the Manor?" Draco asked.

"You mean before we got _captured_ and bought to the Manor." She said with a cutting sarcastic tone. He looked away and across the misty fields to his side and she regretted the way she said it. It wasn't meant as an insult.

It wasn't exactly like it was his fault they got caught. He was at least the person who played a part in saving them that night. Draco hadn't confirmed who Harry was to Bellatrix. He was a coward but he did some good that day. That at least was something.

"We had just been to see Zenophelius Lovegood, Luna's Dad. We were at a bit of a lose end in our search and it was a risk but it paid off, luckily."

"How?" He asked.

"Has Harry told you the whole story? About Voldemort?" She asked cautiously, looking over at him.

"All he told me was that it was Dark Magic but to be honest, we try to steer clear of talking about the past."

She nodded, understanding that sometimes it was better. Harry preferred it that way but she wasn't so sure that's what she would want.

"Voldemort was trying to become the Master of Death." She said slowly as she watched his face screw up in confusion. "Do you know the story of The Three Brothers?"

"From Beedle the Bard?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that a children's story?" He asked.

"Yes but founded on fact. The objects exist and the story goes that the possessor of all three would become the Master of Death."

"So Voldemort wanted the stone, the wand and the cloak? And Luna's Father had them?"

She shook her head.

"Not that we knew it at the time, but Harry was in possession of the cloak and the resurrection stone. Voldemort figured out Dumbledore had the Elder Wand and took it from... took it from his grave." She finished with a shudder.

"So, because he didn't have all three, Harry was able to kill him?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that but it's a long story." She said, taking another large sip of water from her bottle.

"Well, don't we have time?"

.x.

 **Don't throw things at me! It turned out to** **be a bloody long chapter so now it's two!**

 **Read on dear ones and review!!!**

 **Elle x**


	16. Watching Closely

**Friday 11th December**

"So, the Elder Wand once belonged to me?" Draco asked around an hour later. After three miles of walking had flown by. She had told him everything, about the Horcrux's, about breaking into his Aunts vault at Gringotts and about Snape being in love with Potters Mother. He had harboured feelings for her for all that time, never stopped loving her despite her blood.

"Yes. When you disarmed Dumbledore on the Tower that night." He rubbed his hand through his hair, looking off into the distance. "Then Harry disarmed you at the Manor – so its allegiance changed to Harry."

All he could do was shake his head and keep walking. He was dumfounded.

"Shit." Was all he could manage after some time. All that power. It could have been his. Then things would have been different. Maybe he wouldn't be where he was now. "Where is the wand now?" He asked thinking Potter might still have it.

"Harry destroyed it."

"What? He just destroyed the fucking Elder Wand?"

She nodded.

"What a waste." Draco continued. "Imagine what someone could have done with that wand." He shook his head, angry that such power was just gone, wasted. Something that could have been his.

"Exactly." Hermione countered, stopping in her tracks. "Imagine what someone could have done with that wand." He stopped too and turned back round a few paces away from her. "If it got out that it wasn't just a fairy tale and that Harry was in possession of it - he would be a target for the rest of his life."

She looked downtrodden. The thought of her best friend still being in the line of fire. He supposed Potter had been through enough already. It hadn't exactly been a happy childhood for him by the sounds of it. "And if someone else got their hands on it..." She started to continue but he held up his hand to stop her. He heard a little voice in the back of his mind, screaming at him to make her feel better.

"He made the right decision." He said stepping towards to her. Yes, things could have been different for him but this... This was different in an entirely different way. And fuck it, he seemed to be enjoying being out of his comfort zone.

Most days he felt desperate, like he was drowning and trying to find a reason not to sink. Now it seemed he was finally finding himself a reason to keep fighting. A reason to float in the deep brown ocean of her eyes.

"He did." She whispered and he could taste her breath on his lips. This could be his cause. This is why he should fight. This girl in front of him. She wasn't Hermione at that moment, she was a red headed, blue eyed muggle girl on a walk with her friend. Yet he could still see her. If he tried hard he could pretend they were just a young couple out for a walk. Maybe then it could be different. He could see the way she had been looking at him. It was the same way he had been looking at her since she arrived, not that she noticed until the past few days.

"Sometimes people don't make good decisions." He whispered as he watched her eyes flutter. He could do it now. Without the confines of the house and their past surrounding them there, he could press his lips to hers and drink her in.

That was until she stepped away and looked off into the distance. He watched her as she parted her rosy lips and took a deep breath. "We're here."

It took him a few seconds to refocus and follow her line of sight over his shoulder to a small white sign with bold black lettering a few metres away from them.

 _Picklescott_

.x.

"There." Draco said, pointing his finger in the direction of a quaint two storey, double fronted cottage just along the road from them.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked.

"Every house seems to have some form of life. Look, chimney smoking there..." she followed his finger, "Ducks in the garden there, fresh milk on the doorstep there." She looked around. Every house they had walked past showed life. People rushing off to work, people cleaning their homes. Yet the house Draco had spotted looked still. "It's the only one without life." He finished. Wasn't that an ominous statement.

"What do we do now?" She asked quietly.

He turned to her, his blue eyes wide. "This was your plan, Granger."

"You're right." This was her plan. This was her play. Only she had no idea what to do.

"Let's get closer." He rolled his eyes, probably expecting something a bit more exciting. "We can just walk past first, as if we are just walking down the road. I'll turn my head to talk to you and check the house out as we go past. If we cant see anything, once were out of sight we can double back and take a closer look."

"Alright." He turned and started walking towards the house so quickly that she had to jog to keep up with him. She placed her hand on his arm, "Slow down will you." He looked down at her hand wrapped round the arm of his coat then slowed to her pace. "We need to act natural."

He nodded in agreement and walked in time with her.

"Do you feel that?" She whispered to him and he nodded again, yanking up the zip on his coat so it covered his bare neck. It was mild for Winter, nine or ten degrees Celsius but the closer they got to the house, the colder it seemed to get.

Just as they reached the boundary of the house Hermione felt a prickle, a chill run all the way up her spine. She tried to shake it away but it was still there. Tingling her skin despite the layers of clothing she was wearing.

"Okay, so just turn and talk to me now." She said looking past him to the house.

"What about?" He asked.

"I don't know... anything just so we can keep talking."

"Erm."

"Draco..." She urged.

" _The touch of her soft white arms, the sound of her breath in his ear, the scent of her heavy gold hair: all pierced the newly awakened heart like spears._ " Her eyes lit up and she watched him as he recited the passage. His unusual blue eyes darker than before, glanced down at her lips. " _But it had grown strange during its long exile, blind and savage in the darkness to which it had been condemned, and its appetites had grown powerful and perverse_."

They had walked past the house and had reached a cluster of trees where they both slowed once they were out of sight.

"The Warlock's Hairy Heart? From Beedle the Bard?" She asked even though she knew the passage. She had been carrying _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ around since Dumbledore bequest her his copy in his will. She knew each story off by heart.

"It's the first thing that came to my head." He said.

" _The warlock cast aside his wand, and seized a silver dagger. Vowing never to be mastered by his own heart_." She recited, watching his eyes glimmer. She could see him beyond the blue eyes and the black hair. Watching her as she had been him.

"You're missing the part where he hacked his heart from his own chest." Draco mused softly with a smirk.

"I try to forget about that part."

He shrugged and fixed her with a longing stare. "Sometimes people don't want to feel."

She studied his features. So unlike his usual self. The dark hair made his pale skin seem so much lighter but he was still there. The same Draco he had always been. A feint scar on his chin and one on his forehead. The same steady stare.

"Don't you want to feel?" As soon as she had asked, he stepped closer to her, his head tilted and eyes fixed somewhere between her nose and her lips. She hadn't meant for it to sound odd... She just didn't word it properly. It was the way he was looking at her – making her heart thump against her ribs, distracting her.

"I didn't, but I'm beginning to want to."

She looked up at him, his dark fringe falling in his eyes. Her mind fogged over as she focused in on his lips, soft and pink. "What do you want to feel?" She asked him when all she could think about was the feel of his lips on hers and whether they were as soft as they looked.

"Different."

At this moment they were different. Disguised to be different people so why couldn't she be different. Why couldn't she be the one to jump in. Just now, just once. Then she could forget about it. Once kiss... and that would be enough.

"Did you spot anything in the house?"

"The house?" She hadn't even looked in the house. She had been looking at him the whole time. "Oh... no I couldn't see anything." She was a big, fat liar.

"Then we should get a closer look." In a second he had ventured into the woods leaving her watching him in the middle of the road treading down the brambles.

"Draco... wait." She willed her legs to move as she jogged to catch up with him. He had reached a high wall that circled the back garden of the house. " _Draco_!" She hissed, shuffling the backpack off her shoulders and pulling out Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Now isn't the time for a nap, Granger." He whispered sarcastically.

"Shut up and be quiet." She replaced the backpack on her shoulders then swooped the cloak over their heads.

"What are you doing?" The cloak falling over their them, forcing them closer. Something she knew would happen... and didn't shy away from it.

"It's an invisibility cloak. It's impenetrable, unnoticeable and it means we can get closer."

"Closer?" Draco asked, crouching down to her level so they were face to face, inches away. She could feel his whisper on her skin.

"I meant... we can get closer to the house." She was heating up under the cloak, not minding their close proximity one bit. Although now she wished she had worn less layers.

Suddenly he grasped her arm and pulled them even closer. So close their noses nearly touched. He then turned them and lead her forward to the boundary of the wall. Hermione's heart was beating erratically as they walked, crouching low to keep their shoes from showing, their feet crunching under the brambles.

When they reached the wall; his hand still grasped on her arm; He looked over to her and nodded. Slowly they stretched to peek a looked over the wall.

They were positioned to the side of the cottage, two large windows on the ground floor and the first floor facing out over a small garden that had been left to overgrow for some time. She peered through the windows. She could see nothing through the upper floors other than lampshades hanging from the ceiling. Turning her attention to the lower windows, one was boarded up and the other looked like a small dining room, with a dark wooden table and a few chairs surrounding it. Other than that there was nothing of consequence or importance that she could find.

"I can't see anything." She whispered.

After another minute of them scanning the house, Draco suddenly pulled her close, wrapping one arm around her back and covering her mouth with his other hand.

Hermione gripped his arms; feeling his body pressed closely to hers; confused for a few seconds; and dare she say it- hopeful; before she heard the crunch of brambles to her side. She saw out of the corner of her eye, two men and a woman appear, stalking slowly, arms outstretched in front of them, pointing their wands ready to strike.

She looked back at Draco who was still holding his hand to her mouth. His skin pressed against her lips. Don't move he mouthed, pulling her further into him. His fingers pressing into the small of her back through her coat as he slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth, stroking alonge her cheek and resting it against her neck.

They turned their heads to watch as the three Wizards approached, scanning the woods, their eyes passing over them more than once. They watched as they walked straight past them, their crunching feet finally falling quiet and distant as they reached the road. Luckily the cloak held up to its name, keeping them concealed until they had passed by.

Hermione was warm and her heart was hammering, thumping loudly in her chest. The Wizards had passed by them yet Draco was still holding her close, one hand pressed into her back and the other still settled on her neck.

Draco wasn't watching the woods any longer. He was watching her. He could not have been more than an inch away. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest against hers when all of a sudden the air was ripped from her lungs and everything was tight and hot and black and she closed her eyes trying to fight away the empty feeling.

Then everything was light and she could breath again but her chest was still tight. She opened her eyes when she felt a tickle against her nose. His eyes were closed and he was breathless, panting deeply and tightening his grip on her, even though it didn't seem possible to be any closer. Her own heavy laboured breath seemed to match in time with his until she closed her eyes and took a risk. She closed the gap between them, holding her breath.

At first, when she finally pressed her lips to his, he didn't respond. There was a second when she had thought she had made the wrong decision. That she had read everything wrong. Then he kissed her back. Slowly his lips responded. They were warm and soft and and a burst of excitement seemed to explode inside her.

His hand moved to the back of her head, knitting his fingers through her charmed hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth, letting her tongue trace his lips until she felt his tongue against hers. Tingles from her head to her toes rolled through her, heating her up and urging her onwards.

It was soft and gentle until one of his hand fell further down towards her jeans, and she moaned into his lips. Her clouded mind and judgement made her follow her urges and he seemed to be in agreement. His kisses became urgent and they were stumbling to keep upright. Both fighting for more from one another. Deeper and faster.

She wanted this and she needed him. Needed his lips and his hands on her waist and hips and skin. This is what she had wanted. For weeks. She ran her hand down the back of his neck, feeling his own longer, charmed hair then finally his skin under her finger tips, warm and soft and he shuddered under her touches.

"Who's there!?"

He pulled away from her a fraction, panting heavily as they both looked to the voice, his hands still gripping her back and bottom and hers pushed through his hair and on his neck. Neville, wand outstretched standing barefoot on the patio shouted again.

"Who's there!? Show yourself!"

Slowly, Draco released his grip on her, inching away as she broke her hold on his skin and let her arms hang loose by her sides. They stood there, staring at each other for a few moments; breathing heavily, Hermione's lips still parted; before he raised his wand above his head.

She watched as her transformed in front of her eyes back into Draco. Brilliant blonde hair and deep grey eyes. Then he took a hold of the cloak, slowly pulling it down over their heads until they were revealed.

"Who are you!?" Neville shouted. Aiming his wand at Hermione.

"Neville it's us!" Draco yelled back. Taking his wand and this time waving it over Hermione's head. Transforming her back into herself. Both of them now back into Hermione and Draco.

"Oh." Neville said, lowering his wand. "What are you guys doing?" He called from the other end of the garden.

"We're coming." Draco called to him, yet he held her gaze. Keeping his eyes on her lips.

It was her that broke the eye contact and turned to look over at Neville. Even from far away she could see he looked confused, so she reached out and took the invisibility clock from Draco, stroking her fingers across his skin. One last touch before she turned away from him and walked towards Neville and the house.

She ignored the thumping of her heart with every step she took and ignored the unsteady look Neville gave her as she sped past him and his questioning glare. When she was in the house she ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time and speeding into her bedroom slamming the door behind her.

Enough. Enough now.

 **.x.**

 **AAAAHHHHHH**

 ***Hides behind sofa cushion and hopes you like it***

 **FINALLY MY GAAD**

 **You guys, you legends with your reviews and words making me feel. All of you- please keep them coming! Review and let me know what you think!**

 **Working on next chapter now. Love hearing your Theo theories Hopefully not too long before you find out if you haven't guessed already.**

 **Elle x**


	17. A Series of Fortunate Events

**Friday 11th December**

"Granger, open the door."

She could feel the vibrations from the thuds of his knuckles as he knocked the other side of her bedroom door.

"I'm getting changed." She called back meekly and rightly so for it was a complete lie. As soon as they had arrived home she had run upstairs and taken refuge in her bedroom, sinking down to the floor and resting her back against the wood. Closing her off from anyone and everything so she could collect and calm her erratic thoughts.

"I need to talk to you." Draco said quietly. The fact that he had followed her, that he was still so close made it very difficult for her process her usually coherant mind.

"Give me a minute." She said again in that meek voice yet she stayed where she was. Routed to the floor. She was after all, the one who had jumped. She had taken the leap and pressed her lips to his.

 _Fuck_.

She had kissed Malfoy, and he had kissed her back.

Then why was she hiding away from him if he had kissed her back? - Because everytime she thought of the way their bodies were pressed up against one another, everytime she thought about the lurch her stomach gave when she finally felt his lips pressed to hers it made her insides feel like they were on fire. Burning to get closer to him.

Another question lingered on her lips - What would have happened if Neville hadn't interrupted them? The thought that she could have kissed him longer and touched more of him made her body ache to do just that. Yank open the door, press her lips to his again and just fucking go with it. She was never implusive. Never just took chances. She always seemed to think too much. She should just do it. Throw her worries away, wrench her door open and drag him into her bedroom. The intense longing stirred something deep inside her and between her legs.

"What's going on?" She heard Harry's distant voice down the hallway call out and she felt the floorboards shift beneath her fingertips as Malfoy stepped away quickly from her door.

"Nothing." Draco rushed.

"Why are you standing outside Hermione's door?" Shit. She swore she could hear Draco stiffen up on the other side of the door and feel the way the atmosphere changed. Harry's accusatory tone and Malfoy as sharp and as closed off as ever. She could see Harry's face now, his forehead riddled with frownlines, glaring at Malfoy, ready to not believe a word he said.

"I needed to borrow a book." Malfoy finally spoke as the floorboards creaked again, Harry moving closer along the hallway until they stopped and everything was still.

She held her breath in the silence. Too chicken to go out for herself and face her friend and their childhood enemy who a few minutes earlier she had purposefully and wantingly kissed.

"Hermione." Harry eventually knocked on her door. "I need to talk to you."

"I won't be a minute." She slowly pushed herself off the floor and got to her feet. Steadying herself before she reached for the handle. At the last moment she turned and grabbed the first book she could see off the chest of drawers before she resolved to finally open her door.

"Hey." Harry said, wearing the same frown she had imagined on him. "Is everything okay?"

He looked to his left and she followed his eyes, meeting Draco's. His lips were parted and she could see the obvious rise and fall of his chest. His breathing still heavy, just as hers was no matter how many deep breaths she had taken. The overwhelming urge to push Harry aside and pull Draco inside her bedroom and lock everyone else out regardless of the repurcussions was still there. Iching away at her. Encouraging her to reach out for him. Especially when it seemed he was thinking the exact same thing because he just wouldn't stop looking at her and she couldn't for one second bring herself to look away from him.

"I was just getting changed."

Draco looked down at her clothes and his lip twitched slightly. She was wearing what she had worn all day. The clothes that had been pressed up against him. The jeans that his hands had gripped. She could feel the ghost of his fingers still pressing into her hips.

She shuffled under his critical gaze and she quickly held out the book to him; as if to distract him from her deceit. He looked down at it for a few seconds before; she assumed; he realised that it made his story to Harry plausable. He nodded his head, reached out and gripped the book between his fingers then wrenched it harshly from her grasp. Her eyes widened in disbelief at his seemingly childish nature but before she could throw some sort of insult at him, he turned and made for his room.

"Wait." Said Harry making Draco stop in his tracks. "We need you guys at Headquarters. There's a meeting in ten minutes and they need everyone there."

Draco nodded slowly, avoiding Hermione's outraged features. "I'll be down in five." He continued to his room and slammed the door loudly behind him.

"What was all that about?" Harry asked, turning to her, concern written all over his face.

"Nothing." She said masking the anger from her face and nodding and trying to conceal her thudding heartbeat as she watched Draco's door from the corner of her eye.

"Why do I not believe you?" He asked folding his arms over his chest and staring at her, as if he were reading her mind, searching her face for the answer.

She tiled her head to the side, as if he were being ridiculous. "I'll be right down." She added with a smile.

His sceptecism was plastered all over his face. Despite that, he began to walk slowly backwards watching her. "You're lying." He omitted. Before she could protest he turned and stomped down the stairs.

When Harry's footsteps had dissappeared, she looked back into her room realising that she didn't need to wait at all. She could have walked with him but she hadn't. She had sent Harry on his way. So she could what? Stand in her doorway and stare at Draco's closed door?

She closed her own door behind her, telling herself she needed to be less ridiculous. There was a meeitng at Headquarters, which meant there was important information about the War that she needed to hear. The War that was going on despite her recent thoughts being purely selfish. She had to pull herself together. They were all still in trouble. Their world was in trouble and she had to focus and help defend it any way she could.

Despite these thoughts running through her head she still waited. She waited for a few seconds after she had closed her door, just looking across at his. Rembering how his lips had felt on hers and how amazing it had felt when his hand grazed her bottom in her jeans and just how much she had wanted it to never end.

A noise from his room made her start towards the stairs. As she met Harry and Neville in the kitchen she wasn't really listening to anything they were saying as she slunk into one of the chairs. Trying desperatly and failing to forget about Draco's hands and his lips then vowing to herself that it could never, should never happen again.

.x.

"We've sourced what we believe to be another house being used by the Ashes." Arthur Weasley said, as he and Auror Masen stood near the window, adressing the crowded room. "We don't know if this will come to anything but we need to check, so we need volunteers to watch. Just like we have done for the house in Greatham."

Draco saw Harry and Neville raise their hands immediately, and quickly followed suit. Hermione, standing infront of him also raised her hand along with Charlie, Bill and a couple of Aurors dotted around the room. She wouldn't be able to go. She still hadn't had her preliminary meeting with Charlie and be signed off to be able to work in the field.

A part of himfelt sorry for her. She wanted to do everything and anything she could and he wanted her to feel needed and like she meant something. On the other hand she was safe here. Away from danger and away from his bat-shit crazy Uncle and his band of equally crazy followers.

"Excellent." Arthur nodded, but no smile graced his face. Instead he glanced to Charlie then back to the crowd, his face sunken. "We will send out the rota in the next few hours and the watch starts tomorrow at 6am." He nodded and turned, signalling for everyone to disband.

"Another house, another watch." Potter said to his side. He looked over at him.

"What else can we do." Draco shrugged. Torn inside about whether to tell Harry about the Carriblad house. About the fact that there were three Wizards there, searching the grounds of the house in attack mode. It had to mean something, but it wasn't his story to tell. It was Hermione's call. It was her who figured all this out. She made the connection between Shrewsbury and Lestrange which lead them to the house in Picklescott. So it was she who had to make the decision to invite anyone else into her findings.

She was talking to the Weasley girl infront of him. Her long dark curled hair falling down her back over her coat. The coat he had been gripping between his fingers no more than fifteen minutes ago, trying to get closer to her, to feel more of her lips and skin. Their searing kiss pierced his mind. It had ignited something deep within him. His stomach flipped, remembering the moan that had escaped from her rosy lips and how it had vibrated against his, making his crotch pulse. Just as that lingering memory teetered on the edge of his mind she turned to face him. Biting away at the rosy, bottom lip of hers. He ached to be the one biting it.

"They're not going to let me Watch." She said with a glum face. Like a child, not getting the gift she always wanted.

"Most likely not." Potter confirmed shrugging his shoulders.

"I might go and talk to Charlie." Hermione started. "See if he has some time this weekend or next week to sign me off."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Said Ginny shaking her head. "He's not good."

"He seems fine at the moment." Draco said, nodding in Charlie's direction who at that moment leaned into Penelope and whispered somewhat delicately into her ear. She smiled up at him but caught the four of them looking over and swiftly masked her smile. She whispered something back to Charlie who also looked their way. Penelope then started walking slowly past the group; sneering over at Ginny who sneered back; and walked out of the main room. When Draco turned back to Charlie he had already moved to the planning wall, ignoring their stares.

"Are they...?" Harry started.

"No." Ginny cut him off quickly.

"It looks..."

"Charlie wouldn't do that to Percy." The redhead cut in again. "He's just having a hard time... adjusting."

"Hey, you lot coming?" Called Neville from the dooryway behind them. The four of them made for his potition in the hallway before Potter said godbye to Ginny. He watched as she tenderley pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms around his neck. He caught Hermione's eye, not even sure of who looked first. Either way she didn't look at him for long before tiny footsteps were heard on the tiled flooring, distracting them from their awkward glances.

"Cooo!" Teddy was running full pelt towards him with his arms outstreached.

Draco lunged quickly and lifted his small second cousin into his arms, resting him on his hip, before Teddy slapped his hand to his head. He watched as the young boy's hair transformed to an exact likeness of his own. It was hard not to love this kid, with his button nose; not from the Black side of the family; and his transformed grey eyes that shone the more he smiled.

Harry gave Draco the same surly stare he gave him every time Teddy ran to him and he watched as Ginny placed a comforting hand on his arm, as if her pity would some how change things.

"Where's Andromenda?" Draco asked, directing the question to Teddy. The young boy shook his head then buried it into Draco's neck, hiding, not wanting to be found by his Grandmother.

"I'll go find her." Hermione said to her friends before turning and walking down the hallway. Draco followed her a few steps behind, cradling Teddy in his arms and watching Hermione and her slender legs walking in front of him. He needed to spend less time watching her. It was bad enough his own resolve was breaking down whenever he was around her let alone getting anyone else involved in it. But shit - he could follow her forever.

"Oh?" She had stopped abruptly in the doorway to the kitchen. "Sorry... I was just looking for Andromeda."

"Use your eyes Granger, she's not here." The sharp and cutting voice found his ears. He joined Hermione's side and she looked at him, confusion written all over her face and she turned to look back into the kitchen. He followed her gaze and found Penelope, leaning against the edge of the counter on the other side of the kitchen. Her hands gripping the wooden work surface either side of her, one hand holding a slim, black object in her hand.

"Do you know where she is?" He asked, brushing past Hermione to push himself through the tight doorway.

"No." The blonde said abruptly folding her arms over her chest, hiding the oject she was holding from their view.

"Well thank you, you have been so helpful." He couldn't help the annoyance in his voice. Teddy giggled in his arms. He had almost fotgotten he was holding the small boy. Even thought he was still so young he seemed to have a keen sense of understanding of what was going on around him.

"Now now, Malfoy." Penelope smirked. "No need to be so sarcastic."

"Now now, Clearwater. No need to be so rude." He responded. Watching her pale features smirk in derision at him. That smirk. It didn't suit her. It was almost as if someone else was staring back at him. Teddy tightened his grip around Draco's neck, his small bright grey eyes watching Penelope cautiously.

Draco felt the same. He had an unusual feeling about Penelope since she had arrived and he couldn't shake it even now. She was rude and abrupt to everyone. So unlike the accounts of her character from the past. She had changed. The only person she seemed to enjoy talking to was Charlie. The way she had whispered in his ear minutes earlier. It was soft and gentle and she was enjoying every second of it by the smile plastered on her face. Potter was right. It looked like they were... flirting? Was that it?

Yet everything checked out. No Polyjuice, no Imperius curse. She was who she was. They why wasn't he sated by his own conclusions?

"If you see her, tell her we've put Teddy in his room." Draco finished, turning to look at Hermione who seemed to be routed to the spot watching their interactions carefully. He found her eye and signalled for her to leave the room, not wanting her to be anywhere near Penelope alone.

"How sweet." Penelope spat in a sickly sweet tone. "What a quaint, mixed family the three of you make." The tone of her voice, the way she spoke, the underhanded comments. He reminded her so much of someone... but it was impossible. It couldn't be her.

"That sounded like an insult, Clearwater." Draco said giving an accusatory glare her way.

"I don't mix my words, _Draco_." _Draco_. The way she had extended the ' _o_ ' at the end of his name sent a shudder down his spine. Only one person did that. One person that had shouted it and moaned and whispered it many times. Pansy Parkinson.

"You never have, have you?" He asked in a whisper under his breath. Just loud enough for her to hear across the room. He stared at her, Penelope's dark blue eyes shining back at him. They widened and she glanced over to Hermione at his side.

"What does that mean?" She asked in a nonchalant tone pushing herself back into counter.

He didn't know what to do now. He had no evidence, no proof. He had nothing. "It doesn't mean anything." He resolved shaking his head. He couldn't do anything. Especially not with Teddy in his arms and Hermione by his side. He would leave it. Until he could figure out what to do later.

He finally tore his gaze away from Penelope and ushered Hermione out of the room. The kitchen door slammed behind them making them all jump.

"Oh." Hermione said.

He followed her gaze to the closed front door at the other end of the hallway. Everyone had gone, leaving them on their own to make their way back to the safehouse. Draco; however much he tried to deny it was quietly pleased with this turn of events; continued on towards the staircase. With Teddy now more relaxed after moving out of the kitchen, he started pointing at pictures hanging on the wall in the hallway and making silly noises.

"Are you coming?" Draco offered with a nod of his head towards the stairs. She parted her lips and looked more confused than he had ever seen her before. Shit. He didn't mean it the way it looked. Then again...

"It's about time he had a sleep." He had hoped he had rescued the situation and was delighted when she nodded and began following them up the stairs.

When they reached the top, Teddy gave a squeal and turned in Draco's arms, pointing behind him towards Hermione a few steps below them, then to a picture on the wall. As Draco stepped closer, he could see Professor Lupin, his cousin; Tonks; Potter, Weasley and Hermione laughing together in an old dingy kitchen. It looked like Christmas day as Hermione and Potter were wearing crinkled bright gold paper hats and a large and very tacky, twinking Christmas tree was just visable above their heads.

"Ooo." Teddy coo'd in Draco's ear as he turned his head to Hermione and smiled. Pointing to her face on the picture. Draco turned to watch her. He could tell straight away that she was not expecting to see her face on Andromeda's wall. He stepped away from the picture so she could get closer and Teddy pulled his finger away and placed it against Draco's cheek. They watched her together. Already, Draco could see the first sign of tears glossing her eyes as she stepped closer and touched her finger to Tonks first, then Professor Lupin.

"I remember this being taken." She said quietly smiling at the heartwarmingly happy scene. "Two years ago at Grimauld place."

A tingle ran through him. It was pure jealousy. Here she was, smiling at a photograph. Smiling and teary over a beautful memory where she was laughing and joking and being happy with her friends. He on the other hand was wracking his brain, trying to remember a time before September that he had been happy. Actually as far back as the start of his fourth year, he could not remember being really, truely happy. With the reintroduction of Theo back into his life, he had to admit that had bought him his most recent happier memories along wiith; dare he say it; Potter and Longbottom. Nothing however compared to the steady and unnerving sense of happiness that had begun to bubble inside of him since the re-introduction of this unexpected Witch into his life.

Hermione had sparked something in him over the past few weeks that he had not felt... had not ever felt. He remembered something smiliar, back in his second year when he kissed Daphne Greengrass before he left for Christmas leave. She was his first real crush and their kiss was a feeling Draco never thought he could re-create. He had been so wrong.

He thought he might eventually find something similar with Pansy, or more hoped and searched for it in her for way longer than he allowed. His time with Pansy began in his fifth year, just after he had turned sixteen. She was pretty enough and from a respectable family so she was a good fit; so his Father used to tell him repeatedly. Pureblood's were raised knowing that marriage was not necessarily bore out of love. It was necessity. To keep the Pureblood line going. So Pansy was a necessity for Draco and his family. However bad that sounded, yet she never seemed to mind.

She was persistant as soon as they had shared a first awkward kiss so he had persevered and over the next year she had let him touch her where he had never touched a girl before. She had been the one to push his hand down to her knickers and coax him into feeling her and how much she wanted him to touch her. So it urged him on to touch more of her, until he had felt evey part of her body. He had kissed her lips and neck and breasts and stomach and kissed and licked her pussy, leaning how to make her reach her peak then push her over the edge.

She in turn had touched him and kissed every part of his skin and gripped his dick between her fingers coaxing his first orgasm without anyhelp from his own hand. She had been the first to lick and kiss and suck his dick. Despite that, when she tried it on with him and he was tired or fed up with the facade, he faltered when she reached for his trousers. Despite him not being invested in Pansy he certainly was invested in her mouth. Especially when she couldn't speak. Yes, he had used Pansy Parkinson and he was quite sure she had used him too.

Just before they left for the Christmas holiday during their sixth year, when it felt like he was at his lowest (oh, how wrong he had been) they had taken the final step and had sex. He had given up his virginity to her because he believed this was it for him. This was his life. Stuck following Voldemort and stuck with a wife like Pansy, so why not just get it out of the way. It was far from awful, especially when he had closed his eyes and just tried to be in the moment with her, feel her lips on his and try to feel some sense of closeness to her.

They continued most nights like that. If he was low; which he found he was most nights; he would take her into his room and kiss her and she would kiss him back, making him feel like he was needed and wanted by someone and not just a dumb pawn in a stupid fucking war game that he didn't want to play anymore. Before the end of the year, before that night on the Astronomy Tower, she had called it off. Maybe because of how pathetic she could see him becomming. Which he was. He was a pathetic mess. Yet it didn't hurt when she said she no longer wanted to be with him. He felt nothing. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away from her, straight back to his already crappy exietence for the remainder of his time at Hogwarts.

It had been hard for him to feel anything other than anger or regret for years. To feel any slither of happiness until recently. Here she was. His portion of happiness. The at first unwelcome and unwanted house guest, turned light at the end of a very dark and long tunnel. Weeks of ignorance from his side had transformed it's way to understanding and trust. Then came a rush and deep sense of longing for the goodness that she posessed, finally leading to a series of fortunate events that found them alone together more and more. Even in their silence his heart had been terrifying loud. Screaming for more.

Now to today, to their kiss. The kiss Draco had ben longing for, for days despite every reservation he still had in his head. He was terrified of the way he was feeling and terrified of doing something about it because it meant that his past... everything he had ever known was gone. Everything he had been raised on was fucked, or at least his mind was. Was his mind being warped by these people or was it always fucked and dark and only now was he beginning to see the light because of them? Which ever way round it was, a large part of him didn't care. He was enjoying every fucking second.

Yet he had still been too terrified to close the gap. She was there, in his arms and his hands were on her skin and her waist and he was too scared. Courage had always been something he craved that never came easily to him. Not these Gryffindors. They seemed to have courage to share around.

In the end, she had made the decison for him and he was grateful and thankful she had because given a second chance he wasn't sure he would have been able to close that gap. It was still fucking scary, but soft then hot and needy and something more than anything he had ever expereinced.

Back to the here and now, Teddy shuffled and held out his arms towards Hermione. She turned and looked at Teddy, confused at first. Then she looked to Draco as if for reassurance that this was okay, before she gave the little boy a small smile and hooked her hands under his arms pulling him into her chest. He immediately wrapped his arms around her neck. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his, wrapping her arms around his tiny body. Draco rested his shoulder against the wall next to the picture and watched the two of them. Hermione was delicately stroking Teddy's transfigured Malfoy blonde hair. After a few seconds he saw a solitary tear fall from her eye and she tightened her grip taking a deep breath into his hair.

Draco moved slowly past the moment the two seemed to be sharing; feeling slightly awkward at the emotions that seemed to come so easy to them; past a few rooms until he reached the end of the landing. He stepped in and used his wand to draw the curtains plunging the room into darkness until he turned on the broomstick light on the wall above the cotbed which gave the room a subtle golden glow.

Right next to where Teddy slept was a picture of his Mother and Father. Professor Lupin and Tonks. Draco had seen it multiple times when he had put Teddy to bed during the weeks he lived here. They were in the hospital. Tonks must have just had him as he wasn't even visible on the picture. Just a tiny bundle of blankets in her arms but he must have been there because they looked so fucking happy. Professor Lupin with his arm wrapped around Tonks' shoulders looking down at his son. The son he would never see grow up.

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Could he have prevented their deaths? If he had listened to Dumbledore that night on th Astronomy Tower? Would things have been different? If he had just had the courage to admit he was wrong. Admit defeat and help them, would they still be here? To see the beautiful kid that he was now? Happy and tiny and with the ability to make everyone in the vicinity fall in love with him. Making everyone smile just by being alive.

A nudge against his arm pulled him from his thoughts. When he turned he saw Hermione's face, glowing from the light on the wall. She had her finger to her lips, silently shushing him. He looked down at Teddy cradled in her other arm, his head resting against her shoulder, eyes closed and breathing soft and slow. He leant over the cotbed to pull back the covers then Hermione carefully and slowly placed the small boy on the matress, covering him with the bundle of blankets.

Neither left and neither moved once he was tucked in. They stood there side by side, in the comforting silence that Draco had grown to enjoy over the past month, watching Teddy's quiet slow breathing. Hermione broke the silence first, whispering into the glowing room.

"Penelope has a mobile phone."

He turned to her confused. "What's a mobile phone?" He whispered back.

"It's a device Muggles use to communicate."

"She is half Muggle." He mused, knowing he wasn't thoroughly convinced of his own argument.

"Yes... but..."

"But what?" He urged softly, turning to face her and leaning his right hand against the rail of the cotbed.

"She hid it from me. When I walked in on her in the kitchen. Why would she do that?"

"Exactly." He agreed. Rembering just how shady Penelope had been.

"I'm beginning to agree with you." She said, turning face on to him. "Something isn't right with her."

He slid his hand slowly along the rail, moving his body closer to her until his hand stilled right next to her hip, forcing her closer to him. He watched as she looked up at him through her thick, dark eyelashes. Her lips parted and a delicate breath escaped her mouth, ghosting over his skin.

"We need to figure this out." He whispered gently to her. So much depth to his words he wasn't even sure of what context he meant them under but before he had time to think any longer, they were both startled when they heard a creak behind them.

"I am always losing that boy." Andromeda whispered with a wary smile at the both of them as she stepped into the room.

Hermione smiled politely towards Andromeda then backed out of the room. He watched her until she had disappeared and listened for her quick footsteps along the landing then the distant thud of her feet on the stairs. Draco; noting that it had been the second time Hermione had run away from him today; turned back to his Aunt, gave her a small nod and headed for this door himself before a touch on his arm stilled him. He looked over at his Andromeda who had a nervous smile on her lips. She reached out slowly and stroked his cheek with her thumb.

"Careful." She whispered before turning towards Teddy, leaning over him and fussing with his bedcovers, tucking him in tighter.

Draco watched her careful movements for a few moments before turning once more for the door. He made his way back along the landing to the stairs, taking them slowly, one at a time until she came back into view. She had waited for him, resting against the frame of the open front door, looking out onto Andromeda's small front garden. Her curly dark hair and brilliant brown eyes shone from the low afternoon sun, lighting up her profile.

Shit. Andromeda was right.

"Are you going to tell Potter?"

She turned her head, eyes wide in surprise at his forward question. He'd done it on purpose. Set a trap.

"I think it best that we keep this between us." She said in a whisper looking down at her hands, obviously embarassed about having to acknowledge the secret they had been holding between them.

"I meant about the Carribald house." He revealed crossing his arms over his chest, straight faced. Inside gloriously happy he had made her slightly uncomfortable. Mainly because he got to see her flushed cheeks and watch her bite at her lower lip again.

"That too." She said. "For now." She pushed off the doorframe and started towards the boundary along the cobbled pathway before she stopped and turned back to him just before she hit the olive tree. "I think we need to go back."

"Is that a good idea?" He said trailing a few steps behind her on purpose.

She shrugged. "Maybe not but we need to try."

 **.x.**

 **Eeeshkk that's a long chapter! Hope you enjoyed along with a nice insight into Draco's thoughts.**

 **Apologies for the length between the last chapter and this. This took me forever to write but the next one won't be as long of a wait.**

 **Review** **pleaseee and let me know your thoughts! So happy you all enjoyed the kiss in the last chapter. Merlin knows I enjoyed writing it!**

 **Dedicated to Imperialboob, Cinnamon Silver Tiger and Guest:Tessa for making me smile with your reviews last chapter.**

 **Peace, Elle x**


	18. Secrets

**Wednesday 16th December**

Hermione was sitting with Neville at the table while they watched Theo slowly make his way around the kitchen, attempting to cook his first proper meal.

The guys; Harry, Neville and Draco; had been on four, twelve hour Watches since Saturday morning at the house in Durham whilst Hermione and Theo had been shut up in the house with nothing else to do apart from read or sit and talk. So they had talked. Mainly about their time at Hogwarts but occasionally talk of the War crept in. At this point Theo always changed the subject and mainly he liked to talk Malfoy.

 _'What happened on Friday?'_

 _'Did you find anything at the house?'_

 _'What happened with Draco?'_

These were repeated questions from him that Hermione wasn't quite yet willing answer. So she lied.

' _People_ _were there but we dont know why.'_

 _'We're going back to have another look.'_

 _'And - nothing happened.'_

Each time she answered him she could tell he didn't believe her and she wasn't surprised. Everytime Draco returned from a shift or walked into a room she was in, Hermione would suddenly find a most surprising section of a book that she was enthralled with so she didn't have to look at him or pay attention to anything that was said. - Because everytime she did she remembered everything. How he had tasted and his smell and how it made her excited and how she craved that excitement again.

Once Theo got fed up of asking the same questions with the same answers, he asked Hermione another all together unexpected question.

' _Will you teach me how to cook?_ '

Hermione had shown him how to make and bake a variety of things over the past few days which the weary Watchers seemed more than happy to taste test when their shifts finished. When they had baked cakes; the Muggle way; they had left them in the kitchen only to find five out of the seven had dissapeared by morning.

Neville and Draco had returned from their last shift at six last night. Whilst Neville had risen at a normal hour this morning and had spent the day clearing out the planning room, Draco was seen briefly at around two o'clock to forrage the cupboards for food before he retreated back to his bedroom and hadn't been seen since.

Harry had returned after his last Watch just after six this morning and Hermione generally being an early riser had met him in the kitchen half an hour later, finding him scoffing some of the leftover pie she and Theo had made for dinner the night before. He still had not mentioned the Philosophers Stone to her. He had chosen to keep it a secret so she had resolved to keeping the Carribald house a secret from him. Just for now. Just until she figured out what everything meant.

It was now coming up to six thirty in the evening. Theo had made sure they all knew he was cooking and that they all had to eat together tonight. Despite this, Draco was still nowhere to be seen and to be honest Hermione didn't know how she felt about being in such close proximity to him tonight. She had no book to hide behind, no passage she could loose herself in. They were eating together and she would have to look at him. It made her skin tingle and the nervous knot in her stomach tighten as it got closer to half past.

It had been an unusual few days. After their kiss on Friday and their near kiss at Andromeda's she had hidden herself away. Reading in her room, then popping down to grab a quick bite to eat before making her excuses and taking a long bath before heading straight to the comforting confines of her bedroom. He had not come to her room again however much she silently begged to hear his knock.

He in turn had arrived back each evening, eaten with some speed then after a brief chat with Theo, he would retreat to his bedroom. Her only constant companion over the past few days had been Theo.

They had sat together on an evening and Hermione had taught him how to play Muggle games like Word Association and Sharades which he loved and urged her to play with him every night. Tonight however, Theo wanted to make ' _special_ ' as he called it. When she asked him why all he sais was it would be the first night they all had together for some time and they should celebrate the fact that they could all be here.

So she went along with it and as her and Neville sat at the table watching him humming whilst he stirred the food she decided that for some reason, he was extremely happy. Whatever the reason, she liked the smile on him.

"Where are those inconsiderate arseholes? They have three minutes or we're starting without them!" Theo yelled as he pulled six plates out of the cupboard. Hermione could see the strain on his face. He had still not recovered fully since the raid but she dare not say anything to him about helping. He had not so politely earlier told her to get lost when she offered to chop the vegtables.

"Six?" Neville questioned counting the plates as Theo laid them out on the kitchen side. Hermione too was confused. With Theo, Harry, Neville, Draco and herself it only made five.

"Harry said Ron might come later." Theo commented casually over his shoulder, turning back to the stove.

"That's good. We haven't seen him much since..." Neville faltered in the last word of his sentance. As if saying Percy's name was somehow taboo.

"I hope he does." Hermione said, turning to watch the back door for any sign of her friend, "Theo has a knack for cheering him up." She commented just above a whisper. She hope that she would see Ron tonight. He had been on shift with Harry until this morning and before that, the last time she saw him was the previous week when he had popped in to see Theo.

She may not have seen Ron walking through the door but she did see Neville's reflection in the glass, silently laughing as Theo watched on in anger. He drew his finger across his own throat then pointed at Neville. Hermione, watching this in the reflection of the glass in the back door turned to the two of them, seeing the way Theo's cheeks had flushed before he turned quickly back to the food simmering away on the stove.

Neville avoided her curious gaze too, deciding to grab a selction of cutlery from one of the drawers and begin laying the table. Just as she had opened her mouth to confront the two of them about yet another secret she was being kept away from, Harry stepped into the kitchen.

"I am starving. This better be good Nott." He joked rubbing his stomach.

"I've made you your own plate of _go fuck yourself_ Potter." Theo replied sticking his middle finger up at him. "Now make yourself useful and pour us all a drink."

As Harry made for the cupboard in the kitchen wall, pulling out a few random bottles, Theo turned to Hermione. "Can you go and knock Draco?"

It took a few seconds to compute which made the corners of Theo's lips turn up into a smile. Hermione; noticing his unusual watch on her features; decided to roll her eyes at him and ignore his knowing smile as he turned back to the food.

She knew Theo wasn't stupid because why else would her pulse quicken and her palms sweat like they were now? Was it so noticable to everyone else? She hoped it was just how close they had become. After all, she wasn't stupid either. She had notcied a change in Theo too.

As she rounded the corner out of the kitchen she abruptly bumped into Draco who had just stepped into the hallway from the stairs.

She felt his strong hands wrap around her upper arms keeping her from falling backwards and she grabbed onto the nearest thing she could get a hold of which turned out to be his jumper.

As she lifted her gaze to his piercing grey eyes, he moved her to the side so he could pass by, but took his time releasing her arms.

"I was just looking for you." She whispered, not quite sure why she couldn't speak the words any louder. Her hands were still gripping his jumper, her body screaming at her to keep him close.

"Were you?" He whispered back, slowly dragging his hands down her arms until they fell by his side. They stood there for a few moments until Draco glanced down to her hands on his jumper.

She looked down to her fingers still linked in the fabric on his chest then dropped her hands, stepping back as he smirked at her and turned into the kitchen. She took a deep breath and rubbed her clammy hands on her shirt before she followed him.

She hadn't thought she had been out of the kitchen that long, yet in that time the boys had plated the food up, poured everyone a drink and Ron had arrived sitting at the end of the table. He looked up briefly and smiled her way but as Neville began to talk to him from the next chair his attention was pulled away.

Theo was sat opposite Ron and Harry sat next to Theo, opposite Neville. Draco made for the chair next to Theo which left Hermione sitting next to Neville, opposite Draco.

It wasn't exactly what she would call an ideal situation to be in what with trying to avoid being in close proximity to him. Her thoughts were interrupted as Theo stood from his chair slowly, placing a hand his chest. She quickly took her seat and turned to watch him as he attempted to hide the pain from his face.

"Just a quick one from me. If it tastes like shit, Granger showed me how to make it so blame her." The boys around the table laughed and looked her way as she stuck up her middle finger to Theo. Theo winked her way before he continued.

"So this isn't exactly expensive food or very well cooked; as I cooked it; however I wanted to do something to say thank you to you all." Silence fell around the table and Theo dipped his head as if suddenly self concious. "I don't know exactly what happened after the raid went to shit and I just..." He looked briefly at Ron who avoided his eyes and looked down at his plate, "...wanted to do something to say thank you for whatever part you all played in helping me"

He turned then to Draco and nodded his head which was returned with equal sincerity.

"It was a shit night and more shit has come out of it but i'm glad I've got you lot to go through it with." He placed a hand on the table to steady himself as she saw his features twist in pain once more. "'Cause after all, that's what we're fighting for right?"

Hermione beamed up at him, warm with the effect his words had on her and she saw Draco nod along in agreement.

"Here, here." Neville said raising his glass and they all mimicked his actions, minus Draco who looked on smugly.

"AND!" Theo began again excitedly. "I'm so glad I finally get to say this..." He held his breath, sticking out his chest and raising his glass high into the air, "...To new friends!" Everyone chuckled, minus Draco. Harry nudged him sharply in the arm as everyone waited for him. Finally, after succuming to the peer pressure he raised his glass in the air and joined in with the cheering and laughter that seemed to erupt in the room at that moment.

"To new friends, Granger." Draco said quietly holding out his glass to her as the others were still loudly enjoying the slither of happines Theo had given them. She pushed her glass into his hearing the 'clink' as they met. After a few seconds, just as she had picked up her her fork to start on the spaghetti Theo had made, she felt a stroke next to her ankle under the table.

Immediately she stilled as the stroke moved down her ankle to rest by the side of her foot. The anticipation she felt as she moved back a fraction, peering under the table to find Draco's foot resting casually beside hers was coursing through her veins. Making her shake. When she saw it was definitely him she was flooded with what she could only describe as euphoria.

It was the gentlest of touches, as if to say _I'm here - you can't ignore me_ _anymore._

She saw Draco's lip twitch at the corner of his mouth, knowing then that it was a purposeful move on his side but he continued to act indifferent. So despite the slight shake her hands now had, she also resolved to remain indifferent. She just couldn't pull her foot away. The gesture was subtle but ignited something in her. Fuck everything. She had to see what this was. She had never felt excitement like it before.

.x.

"Water." Said Harry.

"Bathroom." Said Hermione.

"Bedroom." Said Ron.

"Bed." Said Draco.

"Sex." Said Neville.

"Nev, mate! Everytime you bring it back sex!" Weasley roared in laughter looking round the room, bringing everyone in the room to his state of euphoria.

"What?" Neville said with a straight face. "I think about it a lot!"

He watched as Hermione covered her flushing face, giggling into her hands. Potter reached over from the floor and patted her on the leg. "Look what you're doing to poor Hermione!"

She lifted her head and looked at Harry still giggling. "I'm not a prude! I can talk about sex!" It seemed as if the few beers she'd had, had made her more confidant. Granger would never discuss this normally, he was sure of that. He liked it on her. He had never seen her smile so much as she had done tonight.

"Not without blushing." Ron said, reaching over to her on the other side of the sofa and touching her cheek lightly with his finger. The room began to laugh again but without Draco, who could only watch Ron's fingers carefully against her skin until they were back on his own lap. It wasn't like he had anything to worry about from Weasley and it wasn't exactly like Draco and Hermione had disucssed anything about what was going on between them. Yet, he ached when she let Ron touch her so openly and carefully because it was glaringly obvious that she had been avoiding Draco and any further interaction with him.

"That is beside the point." She said glancing Draco's way then smacking Weasley on his arm. Draco took great delight in watching him scowl and rub his arm in pain.

"Right!" Theo yelled. "Next round rude words only!"

"Hang on, I want to hear more from Hermione about sex!" Neville said from the other armchair. Draco, sat next to him on the floor infront of the fire choked on his beer at Neville's words. He had drunk the most out of everyone this evening and kept slipping lower and lower in his chair, his words slowly becoming a slur. It seemed the comment was lost on everyone else as Theo yelled again.

"Potter... Go!"

"Errr... underwear."

"Oh, so rude Potter." Draco said sarcastically to Harry across the room.

"Fuck you." Harry replied loudly.

"Naked." Said Hermione, eliciting a round of ' _ooh's_ ' from the boys. Draco smirked as she caught his eye again, her cheeks rosy. She looked to him, everytime. Everytime a notion on sex or kissing was brought up she would look. As if she had to check whether he was looking at her.

"Skin." Said Ron.

"Lick." Draco said calmly, watching Hermione stare at him out of the corner of his eye. He swore she licked her lips.

"Tongue." Said Neville.

"Kiss." Said Theo.

"Lips." Said Harry.

"Blow." Said Hermione. All the boys shifted in their seats and Draco couldn't stop the twitch in his underwear or the flip in his stomach. She glanced at him again and all Draco could imagine was her lips wrapped around...

"Suck." Said Ron after a few seconds and Draco thought he might explode when she bit her bottom lip.

"Fuck!" Neville shouted loudly, taking Draco's turn. Once again the whole room burst into laughter and Theo was unable to keep the drink from bursting out of his mouth to cover Harry on the floor next to him.

.x.

"I have never..." Neville said as he looked around the room, "...drank so much that I passed out."

"That's ridiculous coming from you Longbottom!" Theo yelled.

"Fine!" He yelled with droopy eyes, looking round the room. "I have never... had sex at Hogwarts!"

Ron, Hermione and Theo stayed where they were, with their drinks in their hand whilst they watched a confidant Draco take a large sip of his drink and refill his glass. Of course he had had sex. He had been with Pansy for years during school and Hermione wasn't naive to the fact that a lot of girls found him attractive. Herself included at this particular moment in time.

Harry on the other hand, with his rosy cheeks in full view avoided Ron's stare as he took a small sip.

"Right." Theo said. "Draco, you're up."

She watched how Draco's face had relaxed more and more with every drink he had. It was satisfying. That his barriers could be broken down like any normal person and that he wasn't an emotionless robot. Their kiss certainly hadn't been robotic. It had been hot and needy and filled with endlesss possibilities.

"Does it have to be about sex?" Draco asked, running his hand through his hair making a few strands fall childishly over his eyes.

"Yes." Neville responded quickly and Hermione rolled her eyes

"Well..." He began, rubbing his arm. "I have never..." He glanced her way, again. "I have never had sex outside..."

Harry drank alone, again.

Ron spoke next, through gritted teeth. "I vote we change the game."

.x.

"Neville is such a fucking lightweight." Theo said nudging Neville who was passed out in the armchair.

"I'll take him up." Harry said with an exasperated sigh.

"Easy Potter. Your brother's girlfriend is sat right there." Theo joked.

"Don't you mean your girlfriend's brother?" Asked Hermione supressing another giggle.

"Ah fuck yeah..." He scratced his head.

"Ron, give me a hand with Nev?"

"I need to get going really, it's pretty late."

"Ron, you can't apparate when you're drunk!" Hermione cried from her seat on the sofa.

"I'm not drunk!" He exclaimed as he stood up quickly from the armchair, then sat back down immediately. "Okay, maybe I am."

"You can crash in Theo's room." Draco said shrugging, smiling gently Theo's way which seemed to be ignored by everyone apart from Hermione who looked between then curiuosly.

"Oh..." He was stuck for the right excuse. "It's alright I'll sleep on the sofa." He managed as he patted the cushions inbetween him and Hermione.

"Why? he's got two bed's in his room, you may as well." Said Harry trying and failing to lift Neville on his own.

"Why sleep on the sofa if there is a bed?" Draco added smiling gently again.

"I suppose that makes sense." Ron said with a glance towards Theo who nodded his head.

"And you can give me a hand with Neville, he's a lump." Theo and Ron moved over to Harry and helped hoist Neville to a standing position.

"We havin' anuther drink?" Neville slurred as he wobbled on his feet and the guys all grabbed a limb and pulled him towards the door and up the stairs.

"Goodnight." Hermione called from the sofa, as an excited bubble burst in her chest. It was just her and Draco left in the room, something she had been silently hoping for all night. She turned to him at his poisiton by the fire, resting his back against Neville's vacated armchair and watched him swirl his drink around his glass.

"Not tired, Granger?" He asked not lifting his head from the amber liquid swirling in his hand. She heard the four boys finally make their way to the top of the stairs, making their way loudly along the hallway.

"Actually I'm rather awake." She added rubbing her arms, feining a chill. "Is the fire still warm?" It was warm in the room but she couldn't think of an excuse. She could atleast pretent to be colder than she was so she could get closer to him.

"Generally, I find that to be a solid characteristic of fire."

"Are you always so sarcastic?" She asked, rising from her seat and walking towards him. She immediately felt the warmth from the slow burning flames penetrate her skin as she sat down on the rug.

"Not always." He was watching her, looking up from his glass as she shifted on the cushions. "However when you ask ridiculous questions, I find I can't help myself." His legs were open, elbows resting on his bent knees. He looked so relaxed and casual whereas Hermione felt in a constant state of nervousness.

"It wasn't ridiculous. You are just being pedantic." She watched him readjust his back against the chair. "Have you had a good night?" She asked his trying to keep her voice calm. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to kiss him again despite everything that was telling her she shouldn't - to ignore these feelings, but she couldn't. He didn't leave, so it had to mean that he was either just not tired or that he wanted this as much as she did. He had, after all kissed her back. He had been the one to step closer to her in Teddy's room, so close that his nose had nearly touched hers.

"It's been alright." He said as she turned to face him. She was sitting on her thigh with her legs bent to her side. Her hand subtly positioned inbetween his legs.

"Only alright?" She questioned.

"There's only so much male ego I can take and tonight, I've hit my limit."

"What could have made it better?" She whispered as her cheeks burned. She was actually trying to flirt with him.

He lent forward, closer to her. "A few things." He whispered back watching her lips intently.

"Like what?"

He took a few seconds to answer as he tried to find the right words but shook his head as if he couldn't bring himself to say it. "That would be telling."

"Come on."

"Well..." He tilted his head. "Some female company would have been better."

She pretended to be affronted by his comments. "Am I not classed as female company?"

"Let me rephrase that." He lent forward so they were inches apart. "Some one on one female company would have been better."

"Anyone in particular in mind?"

"Granger, don't play coy." He watched her lips and licked his own. "I don't need to spell it out for you."

"Then don't." She whispered, shuffling herself ever further between his legs. "Show me." She held her breath, watching him as his breathing became heavier.

"How much have you had to drink?" He moved away from her. He wasn't going to do it. Just like their first kiss, she had to take it into her own hands, and the beers had given her the courage to do just that.

"Enough to know my inhibitions have been lowered." She turned onto her knees and sat back on her heels inbetween his legs. "But not so much that you should feel like you would be taking advantage of the situation." She took the glass from his hand and reached over his side, placing it on the floor next to him. She took a breath then rested her hand on top his thigh as she moved back to face him.

"Will you show me now?" Her courage coursing through her veins, his grey eyes closing and his head tilting back to rest against the armchair.

He didn't move. So, Hermione made one last attempt to show him, to make him see that she wanted this and if he told her to stop she would stop.

She moved slowly, watching his face as she gently placed herself in his lap, her legs straddling his thighs as she finally rested her weight ontop of him and placed her hands on his chest. Drawing light circles on his jumper. Draco stayed as still as before, his hands seemingly glued to the floor.

Just as she had given up hope she felt the lightest of touches on her legs. When she looked down she saw Draco had placed his hands on the outside of her thighs and was slowly ghosting his fingers over her jeans. They skimmed past her hips and came to rest against her waist where he gripped her tightly through her jumper.

She stroked her fingers up to his shoulders then tickled the skin of his neck with her thumbs before she slowly dipped her head until she could feel his laboured breaths against her face. His eyes were still closed but his hold on her waist seemed to increase. She rocked herself over his crotch, then finally closed the gap. Relishing i the feel of his soft lips against hers once more. Just like their first kiss, it took a few seconds for Draco to respond then he was pushing his lips into hers, opening his mouth and tickling his tongue aginst her lips.

She let her tongue trail over his, moving her hands either side of his face as he gripped her waist and ground his hips into hers.

She responded by slowly bucking her hips, pressing herself further into him, her urges taking over her logical thought because all she could feel were his lips and his hands and his crotch pushing into hers. He slid a hand around her back and pulled her tighter into him then used his other hand to push off from the floor, then lifted her slightly until he manoevered them to the floor. Then he was ontop of her, her legs wrapped around his waist and he was pushing into her again and running his fingers through her hair.

The sound of loud voices and banging from above made him break away from her and they stared at each other. Neither daring to move as their heavy breath tickled one anothers skin.

"We shouldn't be doing this here." He whispered in the silence.

Her stomach dropped as he moved away from her and sat back on his heels, inbetween her open legs. She shuffled back, closing her legs and getting to her feet as fast as her jelly-like legs would allow. She tried to keep her face hidden from him.

"No, you're right." She whispered trying to hide the shame that was flooding through her veins.

"I didn't mean..." He began, standing up beside her.

"I get it..." She held up her hand to stop him from saying anymore. "I mean this is us." She breathed deeply. "This is fucked." She half heartedly laughed. "We're so... different."

"Right." Was that an admission of agreement? She couldn't tell. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.

She searched his face and found nothing. No unhappiness, no agreement. His glassy grey eyes fixated on her but with no sign of recognition or acknowledgment.

"Right." She mimicked, fiddling with her jumper before turning to make her way out of the room.

She wanted him to call out to her. To call her name and tell her she was wrong. Tell her he was desperate just as she was. She hoped with every step out of the room, every footstep on the stairs and every pace alone the landing until she reached her door.

He didn't call her name. He didn't follow her. He didn't want any of it.

 _We shouldn't be doing this here._

 _We shouldn't be doing this._

 _We shouldn't be doing this._

.x.

"I don't know what I'm doing." Ron whispered in the low lamplight across the room, his head in his hands as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"With me?" Theo said cautiously across the room, mirroring Ron's position on his own bed.

"With anything."

"Then why did you come here?"

Ron looked over at him, frowing. "Why are you angry?"

"Why do you think?" Theo's bare chest was heaving, his heart thrumming inside of him, blood pumping through his veins because of the infuriating guy sat opposite him. "You've barely looked at me for two weeks."

"Funnily enough I'm not used to this. I've never done anything like this before -" Ron spat, wagging his finger in the vast space between them. "- And if it didn't miss your notice, my fucking Brother died!"

"I know he did!" Theo shouted across the room, his heart hammering in his chest. All he wanted to do was walk up to him and wrap his arms around him and tell him everything was going to be alright. He had to remember that Ron was grieving. He was grieving and people grieve in different ways. He had to give him time and space to do whatever he needed to do which he did - as soon as he found out about Percy.

But now he felt like he was losing him. He felt like he was fighting to be a part of his life and be a part of the reason Ron could learn to move on. He just wanted to let him in. "I've been worried about you." Theo said softly this time, making sure he made eye contact with him, so Ron knew despite the distance just how close they could be.

"I still came round didn't I?"

"Yeah and sat on the opposite side of the room from me." Theo looked down at his hands, not knowing what else to say. It felt like he was rejecting him, pushing him away and Ron's next few words did not help convince Theo otherwise.

"What did you expect me to do? Walk in and climb into your bed, hold you and kiss you? No one knows about us, Theo. It isn't that easy!"

Theo huffed in exasperation. "Neville knows. And so does Draco."

"You told them!"

"They asked me and I didn't lie! Because this isn't a dirty little secret to me!" He threw his hands in the air in exhaustion then rubbed his face. "But i feel like that's what I am to you." He touched his hand to his chest where it hurt. It ached in his chest. In the very core of him it was suffocating.

"What do you want from me?" Ron asked quietly.

"Nothing that you can't give me." He dropped his head in his hands, trying to breathe away the pain.

Outside the room he heard quiet footsteps along the hallway and a door open and close. A few minutes later another set of footsteps creaked along the floorboards until a door opened and closed with a loud bang, making Theo's door wiggle in its hinges.

Theo noted two doors shutting which meant the occupants had retired to their own rooms. He actually felt sorry for Hermione and Draco. It was so obvious to him that there was something there. They could barely keep their eyes off one another.

Theo closed his eyes and lay back against his bedsheets trying to focus on his own problem. It was only by chance that Ron was here in the first place. Harry inviting him over, Harry telling him to stay in Theo's room. Theo had a lot to thank Harry for. Atleast because it seemed Ron would not be here of his own concious decision by the way their conversation was going.

After a while, in the excruciating silence of the room Theo felt the mattress beside him dip, then a body lie next to him on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Theo whispered hesitantly.

"I don't know." Ron said as he reached for Theo's hand at his side and interwined their fingers. Theo opened his eyes and turned to him, watching his flame red eyelashes flicker as he stared up at the ceiling. As Theo rubbed his thumb over the skin on Ron's hand he relaxed and settled. His heart was still thrumming in his chest but not because of worry but because Ron had come to him. He had finally removed the distance that he been keeping them apart.

They had shared their first awkward kiss in Ron's small room a few months ago and Ron had freaked out immediately and avoided Theo for weeks until he was moved to Blackgate. Now here was Ron. Albeit having another freakout however he came to Theo this time. He closed the gap and that thought made the ache in Theo's chest subside.

After a few minutes, when Ron shifted onto his elbow and hovered over Theo, he felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. Really, he had held his breath as Ron placed his hand gently on his bare chest. Theo shivered when Ron's fingers circled his skin and he couldn't help but lift his head and close the gap between them. Finally able to relish in the familiar feel of his lips. It was all he cared about at that moment. His closeness, his taste and his touch

Everything else could wait.

 **.x.**

 **Well done if you guessed about Ron and Theo!** **Not sure what to call the pairing? Is there already a ship name for them?**

 **Theon? Ronodore? Thonald? Neasley?**

 **Hahahaha! Let me know your thoughts!**

 **A lot more Dramione coming up in the next chapter.**

 **Please leave a review**!

 ** _Edit: Notifications didn't send when I first uploaded this so reloading in the hope everyone gets notified!_**

 **Elle x**


	19. Take the Lead

**Thursday 17th December**

Pansy was tired. She was tired of trying. She was tired of being someone else and she was tired of having to be here.

She was tired because she spent so much of her time locked away in the small bedroom that they had given her at Andromeda's home. It wasn't even upstairs with the rest of the bedrooms. It was an old office converted into a bedroom and bedroom was a used in the loosest of terms. It had a bed and a chest of drawers and nothing else. It was a hole.

If she wasn't kept awake by the looming sense of dread that seemed to be capturing her mind every night, it was from the constant coming and going of people in this house. Heavy boots treading the floor and continuous low murmurings of their tense voices.

She wished she were back at her summer home. At least the way it was a few months ago. It was a beautiful house overlooking Loch Earn in Scotland and Pansy had her own spacious room with double doors opening out onto a balcony that stretched right around the house. It was her favourite place in the whole world. She would sit for hours painting the Loch and people watching. Even if those people she shared the town with were Muggles. From a distance everyone looked the same.

She could be anyone to them. However if they looked, they wouldn't see the beautiful house or the mysterious girl painting on the balcony. They would see an old cottage and if they dared get close they would suddenly remember something else extremely important that they had to be doing other than checking out the overgrown cottage.

It struck Pansy then that she would never see that house again. She had loved it more than her own home and when they made the permanent move their after the War had ended she had felt a calming sense of normality fall over her life. Like this was where she was always supposed to be. With her paint and her brushes and the wind and the water and the mountains.

It was her haven from everything and everyone, where no one knew her name. Surrounded by people who couldn't care less about her as she made her way down the winding country road to the small town less than a mile away for supplies.

Pansy had two weeks of relaxation. Two weeks of silence and calm until a whirlwind pushed its way into her life despite trying her best to avoid letting it carry her away. She got swept up and ended up falling hard.

Ewan.

He was tall with piercing sky blue eyes, dark brown hair that was swept to the side and light freckles spattered all over his skin. He was the epitome of a handsome Prince. The first time she had seen him he had given her the most dazzling of smiles that she didn't know what to do with. So she did what she always did. Turned her nose up and him and moved on.

That didn't stop his beautiful face from infecting her. She saw his face every day and every night for three nights after that brief encounter. The second time she saw him from afar. He was drinking at one of the small 'pubs' at the edge of the town with a group of rowdy Muggle men. She managed to avoid them by circling the back roads of the main town before making her way to the local shop.

Unlucky; or so she thought at the time; he happened to be walking towards her just as she stepped into the shop, despite her diversion. He had followed her in and watched her picking out her supplies whilst he chatted away without a care to the cashier.

She avoided his gaze when she had paid for her things, having to concentrate with the Muggle money her Father had a stashed away at the house for when they came here.

'Hello.' He had said softly in that accent she had learned to adore over the years she spent here. She looked over at him as she plucked her bag of supplies from the cashier's hand. He was so much taller than her. By a foot at least and he had such an air of confidence about him she found it hard to look away. He had a small feint scar in the middle of his chin which she had to fight the urge to reach out and stroke and up close his eyes weren't all blue. His left eye had a fleck of brown brushed through its iris. She had never seen anything like it before.

There was a dark battle going on inside of her. The knowledge that he was who he was despite the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about him. She had never even spoken to him. She wanted to even though it was going against everything he mind screamed at her not to do.

She had left the shop quickly after that. She felt like she was in a haze as she walked back down the main street of the town, as if a thick layer of fog had fallen all around her and she struggled to walk through it. She heard him call out behind her but didn't slow down. She carried on until she reached the edge of the town and then she ran. She ran the half mile back to her house, her bag of supplies swinging by her side. She ran until her lungs ached and her feet hurt reaching the gate of her house and gasping for breath. She was sick, all over her shoes, tears stinging her eyes.

She had locked herself away in her room and tried to rinse the lucid thoughts of him from her skin but it didn't work. He seemed to be all she could think about.

After three days locked away she couldn't help herself any longer. She sought him out, walking in circles round the town, hoping for another encounter which did not end in disappointment. As soon as he saw her he walked towards her and didn't waste time in introducing himself. It hadn't taken long for her to give into her reservations about who he was and it turned out despite their completely opposite upbringings, they were eerily similar.

He was slightly older than her, at twenty four but that was half of the allure. He built houses, she painted. He was an only child; his Mother passing away when he was sixteen and Pansy's own Mother had passed when she was only a baby. They were both not fond of their Fathers only he didn't live with his anymore. He had his own house. A two up, two down cottage set back from the main town where she pretended she also lived in a cottage.

He told her that he had never met anyone like her before, that she was different. She had certainly never met someone like him before and he couldn't begin to comprehend the depths of how different she was to him.

He was straight and to the point, telling her she was beautiful and mysterious and that the more she had avoided him the more intrigued he was to find out everything about her. That he had an unknowing pull towards her and that he wanted to kiss her more desperately than he had with anyone before.

So she had let him kiss her that day and she too felt an unexplainable pull towards him. As if a rope had wound around them, bringing them closer. He held her face in his hands and kissed her until she couldn't breathe and it was the most amazing thing she had ever felt in her life. He was gentle and his touches tender against her skin as if he was scared she would run away. Pansy couldn't remember a time where she was touched, or even looked at the way he looked at her and despite his lack of magical abilities, he radiated security and Pansy felt safe.

He had cooked for her two days later as sort of a second date. She had barely made it through the food before that urge made her stand up and straddle him on his chair and kiss him deeply as if she would never have the chance to kiss him again.

Four blissful months followed of them getting to know one another; as much as Pansy could share with him; and exploring every part of each others bodies. He liked it when she nibbled his ear and tickled the back of his neck with her fingertips. She liked it when he gripped her waist and danced his fingers along her thighs. She liked to watch his face when she took his dick in her mouth, and he liked it when she whispered dirty things in his ear, telling him exactly what she wanted him to do to her.

She would paint, waiting for him to finish work then she would meet him and his friends in the pub for a few drinks before walking home hand in hand. Those night they didn't eat. They didn't need food when they had each other. He would push her up against the door as soon as they were inside and she would let his touches burn her skin. He would carry her upstairs , gripping her bottom as she wrapped her legs around his waist and they would fuck until they collapsed and he would wrap her up in his arms and kiss her skin and tell her how lucky he was that he had found her.

It was always there. The niggling feeling of guilt and nerves never subsided when she returned to her home. Her Father was barely around yet her home still screamed at her of blood purity and of values and of doing the right thing. Pansy knew she was in deep shit but everything began to turn. It felt like Ewan was normality and that her normal life, the normal Pansy was the fucked up version of who she truly was.

Then her sanctuary turned into a nightmare. Just when she had felt at her happiest. Just when she thought she had found exactly where she was supposed to be for the rest of her life.

However life had other plans for Pansy. And she hated the place it had bought her to. She was doing all of this for Ewan. She would play her part for however long this took then she would save him and take him away. They would leave England and start somewhere new- Australia or New Zealand. Their life was in front of them and he was all she wanted and all she wished for.

Now, when she looked in the mirror she didn't know who she was. She was the Halfblood Penelope and she was the Pureblood Pansy and she was the Muggle Pansy all in one and she was tired of being all three.

She knew she was slipping. She knew she wasn't playing her part and she needed to step up her game if she wanted to win and if she wanted to get Ewan back safely. Would Lestrange keep his side of the bargain? - That was something Pansy had to keep positive about or else what was the point in all of this? All thoughts turned to Ewan and tears swam in her eyes, remembering the last time she saw him, the last time she kissed him over a month ago. This was all for him and she would do this, no matter what it took. She had to get him back.

.x.

Draco had barely slept. He had lay in his bed for hours staring at the ceiling replaying the night over and over in his head. Her subtle and not so subtle glances his way. The way she had made the bold move and kissed him first again. He was starting to think that he was more of a coward than he initially believed. Usually when it came to being bold and brave with women Draco was number one in the field so why was she so different? Was it because she was a Muggle? Could it be because of their history? Was he struggling that much because he couldn't get his head around the fact that she wanted to kiss him and he very much wanted her too?

He had got out of his bed and made his way to his door many times, his hand resting against the doorhandle, urging himself to open it and walk across to her room. He played the scene out in his head. He would knock lightly and call her name. She would open the door cautiously in her pjamas with her wild hair and golden brown eyes and she would reach out and take his hand and close the door behind them and kiss him again.

Everytime he imagined it, it was she would would kiss him. She did it the first and the second time. It wasn't like he didn't want to so why didn't he make the move? Everytime she was the one to take that first step, to take the leap into the unknown, to put herself out there and he didn't reciprocate. Maybe that's what he needed to do. Take the leap. Take the lead.

At Five, with barely two hours sleep he stepped into the shower thinking of her still. Wondering what she looked like when she was in this position. Her hair wet, falling down her back, smoothing showergel over her chest as tiny droplets of water skimmed the suds away. His dick twitched thinking of how much he wanted to touch her skin. Of how much he wanted to see every part of her and touch every part of her. He turned the shower to cold, feeling the freezing water wash over his skin, calming him down before he dried himself off, dressed and went downstairs for a much needed coffee.

He didn't expect anyone to be awake at this time in the morning, especially after last night. Most of all he didn't expect to walk in on Theo and Weasley locked in a heated embrace by the back door.

"Oh... Sorry." He said feeling awkward that he had witnessed such an intimate moment between the two of them as Weasley quickly stepped away from Theo. He didn't know how Theo did it. This was Weasley, the red-headed twat they had had the displeasure of attending school with all these years and Theo was mad for him.

"I was just... leaving." Ron turned, his cheeks already matching the colour of his hair and fled out of the back door.

Draco could see the look on Theo's face. Disappointment at having to cut their goodbye short. "Sorry." Was all Draco could manage as he watched Theo, watching Ron's retreating figure across the back garden.

"He scares easily." Theo whispered in response.

Draco began to make his coffee, noting his friend still resting against the back wall, watching the garden, as if he was expecting Weasley to walk back in.

"Make me a coffee will you?" Theo said, finally moving from his watch and taking a seat at the table. "I'm knackered." Draco smirked at that comment, not wanting to know any more about the evening he spent with. "So... Gonna tell me what happened with you?"

"What?" Draco questioned turning around and raising his eyebrow at his friend. Theo rolled his eyes in response.

"What happened with you and Hermione?"

"Nothing." Draco shrugged.

"Nothing." Theo mimicked.

"Well..." Draco turned to Theo passing him the freshly made drink. He took a tentative sip of his own coffee as Theo stared at him, desperate for the news. "Not nothing."

"I knew it."

"Until the noises from your bedroom interrupted us." Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Ah... shit." Theo smiled. Draco pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Theo.

"Did you... you know..." Theo asked, nodding his head and winking at him.

"Im not discussing this with you." He really didn't want to. It was hard enough punishing himself for what he did; or what he didn't do; last night and he really didn't want to include someone else.

"Would you rather talk about Ron and I?"

"No." Anything but that. Thankfully all went silent for a while as Draco nursed his coffee replaying last night over and over in his head.

"You know, Ron's got a great body." Theo began and Draco immediately scowled at him. "It doesn't look like it through the clothes he wears but he has." Draco tried to ignore him, he tried to block out the images of Weasley in his underwear making him feel slightly sick. "-And his dick..."

"Alright!" Draco caved, closing his eyes trying to rid a now naked Weasley from his mind. So, he thought about Hermione. He thought about her kissing him last night. The way she had so confidantly climbed onto his lap and tickled the back of his neck as she ground her hips into his crotch. "We kissed." He said opening his eyes seeing the large smirk on Theo's face.

"And..."

"It could have been more until we heard you two..." He waved his hand in the air, "...doing whatever you were doing."

"Did you kiss her?"

"She kissed me."

"Again?" Theo excalimed. "She is feisty..."

"Give over."

"Why didn't you kiss her?"

"I..." He had thought about it all night, cursing himself for not going after he when she walked out of the living room. "I fucked up." He rubbed his eyes, wishing in some way he could turn back time and have his chance his again. He wouldn't let her walk away, he was sure of that. Theo was waiting patiently for him to speak, sat back in his chair cradling his drink.

"I said that we shouldn't be kissing..."

"What!" Theo exclaimed, his drink spilling over the edge of his cup and onto the table. Draco held up his hand stopping him from saying anything else.

"I know it sounds bad." Theo nodded in agreement with him wiping away the spilt coffee woth the sleeve of his jumper. "What i meant was _let's go somewhere no one can walk in on us_."

"Ah... I can see where she may have been offended."

"No kidding."

"Well... you've got to make the next move, because it sounds like she may have been slightly put off by last night." Theo didn't sugar coat his sarcasm.

"Why am I taking advice from you?" Draco asked frowning, remembering that Theo was currently in a relationship in which the other participant was desperately trying to keep a secret.

"Because you've got no one else." Theo smirked, tilting his head. "And I'm talking sense and you know it."

Draco nodded. Shit. He was right. He had to do it. He had to make the next move and he couldn't back down or let her leave this time.

Theo looked at Draco when they heard slow, careful steps coming down the stairs, both thinking the same thing. His heart started to pound, thinking it was her making her way for breakfast. He watched the door, waiting for her to walk through. To his dismay a disshevelled looking Longbottom walked through instead and he stood up to make another coffee. He needed to calm his nerves.

"You look like shit." Theo said with a chuckle.

Neville held his head in his hands. "Anyone got any pepper up potion?"

.x.

The day wore on with no sign of Hermione. It seemed however she had taken last night... it wasn't good. She hadn't left her room, or come down for food. No one had even heard her move around in her room and by the time it got to four in the afternoon, Theo started to worry.

"Go and check on her."

"You go and check on her." Draco replied.

"She doesn't want me checking on her." Theo said, raising his eyebrow mischeviously.

"I'm quite sure she wont want me doing it either." Draco drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa. "Besides... what am i supposed to say?"

"I'm not a fucking mind reader." Theo tapped his finger on his head and looked up to the ceiling. "Just go and talk to her! You idiot."

"Fuck you." Draco cursed without conviction.

"No, you want to fuck her." Theo winked.

"Who are you talking about?" Of course, Potter had to walk in at that moment. Draco was stuck for words. He just stared at him silently wishing he would go away.

"... My cousin Viola." Theo said. "Draco's had a thing for her for years. It must be the webbed feet."

Draco shot him a steely glare. Not the worst thing Theo could have said but it wasn't exactly great.

"Right..." Harry began, thourally confused. "Well I've got to get to headquarters. _They have some intel about you know what_." He whispered to Draco. "We may need you again."

 _Fuck_.

"Tonight?" He never wanted to go back to the Manor ever again.

"No we're going to be swamped tonight, but soon."

He could only nod in agreement. He had signed up to this. He had agreed to help and would give them whatever they needed. They had after all, given him a life. It may not have been the one he imagined for his future but it was the one he was enjoying being given.

"So..." Theo said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. "Just going to put it out there that Potter is out for the next few hours and Longbottom is currently occupied with his head in the toilet."

"So?"

"So, I think if you wanted some privacy to talk to her without the chance of another interruption - now is the time to do it."

He was getting fed up of agreeing that Theo was yet again correct. Now would be a perfect time to talk to her. It wouldn't be questioned because no one was around to witness it.

"What will you be doing?" Draco asked, unmoved from his seat. He hadn't yet made the decision to move even though he knew he would eventually go. He had to do it. To try.

"I'll be reading with a strong _muffilato_ spell cast around the living room."

He rolled his eyes at him. "Nothing like that is going to happen."

"Sure... Just make sure to cast one if anything does." Theo gave him another wink. He could be an insufferable know it all sometimes.

He managed to rise to his feet but just hung by the sofa. "She's not going to talk to me."

"Just... go." Theo grabbed the couch cushion and smacked Draco in the stomach with it before moving and stealing his vacated position on the sofa. "And don't be a wuss this time." He picked up a book discarded on the small table and fanned to a random page before he began reading. "Just go for it."

.x.

He had been knocking on her door, trying to get her to open it for nearly five minutes. He had to be careful about what he said as he could hear Neville moving around in the bathroom again. Probably throwing up.

"Theo's worried about you."

He rested his head against her door, his resolve slowly faltering with each passing minute.

"I mean... we haven't seen you all day."

He had magical abilities for a reason after all. He could just open the door with his wand... Then again forcing his way into her room didn't seem like the best thing to do.

"Do you want me to tell Theo to make some food?"

He was pathetic. Why couldn't he just fucking talk to her like a normal fucking person?

"Granger..." He whispered against the wood, more annoyed at himself than her. He stayed there for a few seconds longer before he pushed off her door and stepped back, contemplating his next move until he heard the bathroom lock, click.

He expected to see a dishevelled Neville emerging but instead there she was. With her creamy skin, dark eyes and a soft white towel wrapped around her middle, covering her up. She stopped in her tracks when she saw him, mouth slightly parted, gripping the towel closer to her body. Her partially dried hair was falling round her shoulders, sticking to her skin and there were a few tiny beads of water dripping from the ends of her hair down her chest.

"I thought you were Neville."

"Sorry to be a disappointment." She said as she dropped her eyes to the floor and walked towards him, his guard still stationed infront of her door.

"I'm not disappointed." He really wasn't. Her cheeks were flushed and rosy from the shower and she looked up through her thick, dark eyelashes at him.

"Excuse me." She whispered nodding from him to her door. "Can you move, please." She said after all he did was keep watching her beautiful golden brown eyes.

"I can, but I don't want to." She looked on the verge of screaming at him. She huffed and stepped from one foot to another, so obviosly agitated and uncomfortable at the situation.

"You are so stubborn." She spat, clinging to the towel as a small smile spread over his lips.

"So are you."

He watched as her face softened. She sighed deeply and tilted her head, wrapping her arms around her own waist.

"This is ridiculous." She whispered. He saw small lines appear around her eyes as she warmed to him and stepped closer.

She squeezed herself between the door and him and he felt her rock back. It was barely an inch but her damp curly hair tickled his nose and her bottom pressed against his crotch. He hoped to Merlin that she didn't feel the twitch his dick made as her coconut scent made it's way into his head.

The next thing he knew she had opened the door and stepped through into her room. He was rooted to the floor, watching as she pulled her hair away from her neck to fall down one shoulder. He saw a spattering of light freckles across the top of her shoulders and immediately wanted to cross the space between them and run his lips over her skin to trace each freckle from one to another.

That guilty feeling struck him then. The way he was so openly wanting her after everything. He was messed up, he had to be. But he was here... he was helping all of them to some degree. He couldn't have ever imagined he would be in this position a year ago yet here he was. Indulging in everything that he used to detest. Especially her.

When she looked over her shoulder at him that guilt was replaced with a urgent longing. A desperate need to forget everything and focus on this moment and how she looked and how her scent was a beautiful poisen seeping into his bloodstream.

He held his breath as she stepped back towards him and took a hold of the door. For a second her though she was close to closing it in his face, until he felt the tips of her fingers delicately tickle the back of his right hand. He breathed out deeply in relief as she gently guided him into her room and closed the door behind him.

.x.

"You're hurting me!" Pansy whispered angrily as he gripped her arm and directed her from the kitchen and into her bedroom. He pushed her through the door with such force she stumbled onto her small bed. She turned around to scream at him for hurting her until she saw he had closed the door and was rolling up the long sleeve of his top.

She couldn't look away. His left arm where he had a section of Charlie Weasleys skin attached to his was red raw. "W... what happened?" She said quietly. Pulling up the sleeve of her own jumper, checking her own. It was fine, apart from Penelope's pale skin contrasting against her olive skin and the ugly scar seperating them that the process had left.

Adrian spoke in a low voice, laced with concern, his eyes wide with fear. "I don't know. It started itching a few days ago and now this."

She reached out and touched his arm and he pulled his arm back, hissing in pain.

"You're rejecting him." She said matter of factly. They said this could happen, that it had happened before during the tests.

"What?" He said shaking his head and Pansy remembered just how stupid he was back in school.

"Your body... it's rejecting Charlie..." She stepped away from him. As if she might catch it. "Or at least, that part of him is rejecting you."

"That is of no help to me, Pansy!" He stepped forward so his face was inches away from hers.

She pushed him back away from her, her palms flat and forceful against his chest. "What do you expect me to say? _It's all going to be okay Adey, don't worry!_ " She glared at him, anger bubbling inside of her at his childish nature in such a dangerous situation. "Well I can't! I don't know what the fuck this means!"

"Keep your fucking voice down!" Adrian spat. "This has to be a success!"

"Well you better get on with it!" She retorted turning away from him. Before she could he gripped her arm pulling her back round to face him. His fingers digging into Penelope's fragile pale skin.

"You're gonna help me." He said with a smile.

"Go fuck yourself." She whispered trying and failing to prise her arm away from his tightening hold. "I've kept my end of the bargain - I'm in!"

"And what would Rodolphus say if he heard you refused to help me? He wouldn't just let you go on your way, would he?"

Charlie Weasley looked like a nice guy. He had soft round features with freckles all over his face but whilst Adrian Pucey was part of him he was very different. Right now he was truely terrifing. His eyes weren't his normal bright blue, but a darker blue. As if almost black at times and it sent a chill down her spine as a sneer crossed his lips.

"He's got him. Your dirty little secret." He knew about Ewan. Her stomach dropped, a desperate ache inside her to claw at Adrians eyes and find out if Ewan was alright. Before she could act he wrapped a hand around her throat and pushed her up against the solitary set of drawers in her bedroom. The wood digging into the backs of her thighs. "If you don't help me, I'll tell him to kill him."

She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She just saw Ewan's face the last time she had seen him. Battered, bruised and bleeding. _'I'll be fine'_ he had said as she brushed his hair from his eyes and cried into their last kisses.

 _I'm not going anywhere_

 _I'd do anything for you_

He said he would do anything for her so she had to do anything for him, to keep him safe and for their future. The fog cleared and she grabbed at the firm grip around her throat, pulling Adrian's hand away from her neck.

"What do we do?" She whispered as she rubbed at her now sensitive skin.

Finally he moved away from her and she relished at the distance, but shuddered at his next words.

"They want Granger, we give them Granger."

 **.x.**

 **Dedicated to all you lovely reviewers - you guys are the best!**

 **I r** **eally hope you like the Pansy aspect im bringing in. I love writing her story** **so hope you like reading it!**

 **Picking up where we left the Dramione in the next chapter... and I am excited!**

 **Its difficult to find the time to write at the moment as my new job is taking up so much of my time however knowing you all enjoy it via your reviews makes it all worthwhile. So, please leave a review!**

 ** _Edit: Email notifications for new chapters aren't working again :( so re-uploading this a few days later to see if this works!_**

 **Peace, Elle x**


	20. An End or a Beginning

**Thursday 17th December**

Hermione closed the door and looked up at Draco. Her fingers were still wrapped around his and as he stroked his thumb over the back of her hand she thought her knees might just give way. She rested her back against the door, trying to take the weight from her legs and hoping the minute distance she put between them would help her steady herself in some way.

He moved closer to her, still caressing her fingers with one hand but he moved his other towards her face and gently stroked her cheek.

"What are we doing?" She didn't want to ask it and as soon as she did she regretted it. Sometimes she just couldn't help it.

He looked between her eyes. "Does it matter?" He said in a whisper.

"Yes." She was Hermione after all. Of course it mattered.

He lent in and pressed his lips to hers. It was a brief but warm touch that left her feeling colder as he pulled away. "I don't know." He whispered and she could tell he was feeling her confliction. She didn't know what this was either.

"Do you want to stop?" He whispered into her lips as he moved both of his hands to her waist. It made her shiver. No she didn't want to stop. Everything he did made her excited. After all, wasn't this exactly what she had done with Dean? Sought comfort in a time of unease? Finding solice in the arms of someone else to ease the daily dread and uncertainty. She shook her head at him. She did not want to stop and she did not want to think anymore.

She moved her hands to his shoulders, sliding her fingertips up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer until her lips met his. He flushed himself against her, gently pressing his crotch into her stomach and causing a rush of excitement like a wave falling over her bones. He was gentle and warm and she loved the way he tasted - like peppermint and coffee.

He broke from her mouth; at first, to Hermione's dissapointment; but then dipped his head and she moaned gently as he kissed the sensitive skin along her neck and across her shoulders. She could feel her arousel building between her legs. Something she handn't been able to satisfy herself since their first kiss and she longed for the bed and more of his touches.

As if he knew what she was thinking, he pulled her away from the door and guided her backwards towards the bed. She stopped before her knees hit the frame and pulled him to sit on the edge. With more confidance than she felt at that moment, she hiked up her towel and straddled him. He seemed to enjoy this new position and immediately placed his hands on her bottom and gripped her tightly.

He groaned as she ground her crotch into him urging him on and he responded by bucking up into her. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back onto the bed. Her lips found his neck and she began to kiss lightly along his skin until she reached his ear, where she nibbled at his earlobe. He swore under his breath and dug his fingers into her bottom, and she made a mental note of his reaction in this particular spot.

She felt his hands move from her bottom to her thighs, slowly stroking along her skin until he gripped her legs and spun them round, laying her down on the bed. He tore his lips away from her mouth and kissed and nipped at her skin and her collar bone and she couldn't help but throw her head back onto the bed and drink in the rush that was taking over her. She reached down and pulled at the hem of his jumper, dragging her fingers over his stomach. He groaned and paused for a second to hastilly pull the jumper over his head and throw it across the room.

It was dark in the room, the winter sun having set over an hour ago but the moon shone brightly through her window and she could see the pale outlines of scars all over his chest. A deep one running paralell to his left collar bone, another just as deep on his right side, just below his ribs. Before she had chance to look any further he was kissing her again and she had forgotten why he had stopped in the first place.

She ran her fingertips down the sides of his chest and she felt him shiver and pull away from her. She thought he was going to bolt. She thought he was going to leave as it seemed that was what he always did. Instead he reached a hand to her chest and touched his fingers to the knot in her towel.

"Is this okay?" he whispered as he began to untuck the knot and she nodded. It was more than okay. She didn't ever want this to stop. He dipped his head and began kissing her neck again, along her collar bone to the top of her chest. He moved back to her lips as the towel fell by her sides. Her kissed her slower now as his fingertips ghosted along her ribs, trailing their way across her skin until he reached her breast. He danced his fingertips along the underside then up her chest. When his palm brushed over her nipple she wimpered and he smiled into her mouth.

"Tell me if you want me to stop." He whispered and she nodded in response back. The fact that he asked, the fact that he has asked to be told if she didn't want to go any further was even more of a turn on to her. She felt safe with him and it was one of the weirdest feelings in the world. She felt safe with Draco Malfoy. He waited for a few seconds and kissed her again before finally, he cupped her breast in his hand.

He squeezed gently whilst he circled her nipple with his thumb and continued his trail of kisses back along her neck and across her chest until his lips met her other breast. She ran her fingers through his hair and tilted her head to watch him. His hand was warm against her breast and he stroked it firmly, pinching her nipple between his thumb and his forefinger. His eyes were closed as his mouth kissed and teased at her other nipple, circling around the hard, excited tip. When his teeth grazed the same spot she could see stars. He noticed her reaction so he did it again, grazing his teeth over her nipple until she was grinding herself into his leg.

As he continued to lick and kiss her nipple his other hand moved lower. Stroking down the side of her ribs and across her hip bone until it stopped just below her belly button.

She found his eyes, shimmering up at her and her stomach flipped. His fringe was falling over his eyes and he was breathing heavily and she felt an urge in the pit of her stomach. So she lifted her head and captured his lips then slowly pressed her hand to the crotch of his trousers. His breath hitched in his throat as she massaged him through the material and she could feel his dick twitching.

He began moving his hand lower, dancing his fingers on the inside of her legs, slowly dragging them close, then moving away and she squirmed on the bed wanting to feel more of him the way he was of her. She managed to loosen the first button on his trousers and slipped her hand gently against his skin until she felt the twicthing of his dick against her fingertips. She so desperately wanted him to touch her and release the excitement that had been building since their first kiss but she wanted to feel him too. It was half of the excitement, to try to make him feel as good as she was.

As soon as she wrapped her hand around his length, he stroked his fingers over her entrance, coating them with her arousel and he groaned into her neck, nibbling at her skin. The position of her hand in his trousers was awkward but as she began to stroke her hand gently up and down his erection she found she didn't mind and by the sounds he was making against her ear, he didn't either.

She felt his wet fingers brush against her clit and she wimpered at the warming sensation it bought to her body before he stroked them back down. His fingers circled her entrance and when he felt her lips part, he slowly pressed a finger inside of her.

She could only describe it as intense. An intense feeling in the depths of her stomach and she could feel her insides clenching around his fingers as she tried to keep calm and keep a rhythm stroking him. He pulled out his finger slowly and this time pushed two in, curling them against the area she always found so hard to reach when she was alone. She fought to keep her mouth shut, to stop from yelling out loud and she moaned against her pursed lips and couldn't help but grip him tighter in her hand.

When he ran his thumb lightly over her clit she thought her head may explode. He was panting hard into her mouth. They weren't kissing but just running their lips over eachothers mouths, distracted by one anothers hands. She could feel her whole body was on fire. His chest felt hot against her and she could feel sweat against her skin, not bothering to care who's it was.

He had built a steady rhythm with his thumb and his fingers and she could feel the warmth behind her naval begin to build. Somewhere in the distance she called out, " _Draco, I'm coming_ " against his lips as the waves of euphoria crashed over her and she thrust her head back into the pillow as she rode out the roll of euphoria flooding her senses. She kept her grip on him and could feel him bucking into her hand and whispering expletives in her ear as he came with her.

.x.

It was Harry calling her name from somewhere far away. It must have been a dream because her head was lying on Dean's chest. She could smell him only it didn't smell like him any longer. She moved her fingertips across his chest. Dean was soft and rounded wheres the skin under her fingertips was hard and shaped with muscles.

"Hermione."

She lifted herself up, using his chest to push herself onto her elbow. It wasn't Dean, it hadn't ever been Dean and however much she had wanted it to be him in her dream like state she was glad and in some way she couldn't quite explain, relieved that it was Draco.

"Hermione." Harry's knocking became a loud drum on her door and his voice more urgent. She turned to watch it shake in its hinges.

"You need to answer the door." Draco whispered. She looked at him. His eyes were glistening in the darkness and she still felt half asleep. It must have been very late, or early. She peeled herself away from his warmth and the soft circling of his fingertips on her waist and she got to her feet and headed towards the door. She grabbed the dressing gown that was hanging on the back on the door and quickly wapped it around herself. She unlocked the door just as Harry began pounding against it once more.

"Oh." He said as she opened the door just enough for him to see her and not the blonde currently lying in her bed. Harry was staring at her hair and she ran her fingers through it, taming the curls under his gaze.

"I was sleeping." She rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust to the light from the landing.

"I know, I'm sorry it's late." He lent his arm against her doorframe and relaxed against it.

"What time is it?"

"Eleven. Look can I come in and talk?"

That was the last thing she needed. "How about I get dressed and meet you downstairs? I can make us some tea?"

"Okay, okay sorry." He seemed agitated. "I know it's late but there are things I need to tell you." He stepped closer to her and she had to place a hand on his chest to stop him coming any further. She didn't have the energy to deal with any form of fight between Harry and Draco right now.

"I'll be down in a few minutes okay?" She urged him, pushing him gently away. He nodded quickly then turned and walked away from her without another word. She watched him until he turned for the stairs then she stepped back into the room and closed the door gently behind her.

When she turned Draco was dressing, pulling on his jumper and a sinking feeling hit her stomach.

"I should go." He whispered as he ran a hand through his hair.

What was she supposed to say? Okay? Thank you? What was the protocol in these situations? After they had touched and been intimate with one another. With Dean it felt easy because he was a friend and she knew him so they kissed and they talked but she didn't know Draco. He was leaving. He wasn't going to wait for her to get back which mean he wasn't the type of guy who wanted to stay the night

After all, they confirmed earlier that neither knew what this was. Maybe she should just try to relax and take it for what it was. An experience, a rush of feelings like she had never experienced and deep satisfaction in her soul. She should just see where this went. He wasn't her boyfriend, so he had no reason to pay her any kind.

"I'll see you later." It seemed like a question so she nodded in agreement and let her eyes fall to the floor, somehow unable to watch him walk away. A few seconds later, when she felt a hand on her waist and another lift her chin, any worry she felt seemed to dissapear as he pressed his lips to hers once more. A deep and long kiss that she had to grip onto him to keep herself from falling over her own feet. She couldn't help the little smile that came to her lips as he closed the door behind him a minute later.

.x.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

She didn't know what to say in response. _It's okay_ wouldn't cut it, because it wasn't okay.

"I don't know why I didn't." She crossed her arms over her chest and watched her friend shake his messy hair and stumble over his words. "I should have told you ages ago. I know you hate it here and I should have been a better friend and gotten you more involved in things but I was scared! I didn't want you in any more danger."

"We have been in danger for the past ten years, Harry - but we still did it! We still risked everything because that was the only way!" She couldn't help the break of her voice. The slight sting of tears to her eyes as she tried to make him understand. She took a few deep breaths. "The War isn't over, Harry. It's the same as it was last year only I'm in a house now, not a tent!"

He pulled her into a crippling hug and whispered _I'm sorrys_ into her hair as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She had barely seen him. He was always busy, barely in the house, always off planning of fighting or watching or doing something.

"I thought I was doing the right thing." He whispered as he pulled away from their hug and sat down on the sofa to their side.

"Well you dont think. This is you." She sat down next to him and took his hand. She was mad at him for sure, but she hated seeing him beat himself up over everything. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders most days. Everyone thought that once Voldemort had gone things would have been different, that everything would return to normal and there would be peace and for a time they all thought it. It must be difficult to know that people were still out there trying to carry on what Voldemort had started and once again it seemed to fall to Harry to help.

"I know it can't have been easy adjusting here and I know I've not been around to help as much as I could. Nott is fine but Malfoy... It was hard for me too in the beginning."

She didn't know what to say. A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach. It could have been guilt. Harry had told her about the Philosophers Stone but she was being secretive about her relationship with Draco. She didn't even know what they were... she didn't know whether what happened upstairs was going to happen again or whether it was a one time thing. She just didn't have the answers. If she didn't know herself how could she explain it to Harry?

"While we're being honest. There is somthing I need to tell you."

"Go on."

"I found a house."

He tilited his head like a puppy and knitted his eyebrows waiting for her to continue.

"It belonged to an ancestor of Rodolphus Lestrange and I believe he is using it."

"Where is it?"

"A few miles from here."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You're sure?"

"No but when we went to take a look there were Wizards patrolling the parameter which has to mean they are protecting something, or someone."

"You went to the house?"

"Yes."

"Hermione, you can't just leave the safe house! It's a safe house! Which means outside of this house isn't safe for you!"

"Don't start this again, Harry!" She held up her hand to stop his from going any further. "We were careful."

"Who's we?"

"Draco and I." Just the sound of his voice rolling of her lips sent shivers down her spine, remembering his lips pressed against her skin a few hours ago.

His mouth dropped open and he shook his head in disbelief. "You went together?"

"Yes."

Just as Harry was about to retort, their attention was pulled towards the knock on the door and they watched as it opened slowly to reveal Theo and Draco standing behind it.

"We heard shouting." Theo said as he stepped into the room and sat down on the armchair.

"You should have told me about the house." Harry said, standing and pointing a finger towards Draco stood in the doorway.

"It wasn't my story to tell." He crossed his arms over his chest and held his head high as Harry stared at him from across the room.

"Harry." She touched his arm gently, then pulled him back to his seat. "What if the Stone is at the house? They have guards there and multiple Muggle repelling charms... it has to mean something."

"We need to tell Arthur and Kingsley."

"No." Draco and Hermione said in unsion.

"What?"

"Draco's right, Harry." Hermione began, "Information is leaking to the Ashes. There is a snitch somewhere and we can't afford to lose this lead or let them know that we know about the house - just in case."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"I wan't to go back." She said with conviction.

"No way!" Harry yelled standing from his seat.

"I don't need your permission!" She yelled back also standing.

"We don't need your permission." Draco had stepped to her side in support and she had a violent urge to hug him that she managed to quell by digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands.

"I don't like this." Harry said. Theo turned away from the scene and began picking the dirt from underneath his fingers nails to avoid Harry's silent plea for help.

"You don't have to like it. You just have to keep it to yourself." Draco said calmy, his arm resting against ever so slightly against hers.

She shook the feeling of him out of her mind and focussed on Harry. If she couldn't convince him, everything could be ruined.

"It could be nothing. We could be wasting resource if we tell anyone else right now. This is the right thing to do, and we can do it."

 **.x.**

 ***Hides behind another cushion***

 **Go easy on me! It's been a while since I've written a smutty scene and I'm a bit rusty, however it has given me some ideas for the next chapter of Rules! Hopefully I'll get that uploaded in the next week or so as that's been on hold for months**!

 **As you can tell I'm not as regular with my updates however I am still dedicated to it and will see it through until the very end I will just be a bit slower from now on.**

 **Let me know what you think! Always love your reviews!**

 **Stay sexy, Elle x**


	21. The House

**Friday 18th December**

Draco slept well and deeply until he heard the bang of a door somewhere along the corridor which roused him from his sleep. He wasted no time in making his way to the kitchen for coffee and this is where he found himself. Stood in the doorway, watching her as she spooned a careful half a sugar into her tea then grabbed for the milk in the fridge. He didn't realise that he would feel like this.

After last night, well he didn't know what he expected. Not this. This intense feeling in the bottom of his stomach. A sort of lurch as he watched her. Her hair was pulled into a messy knot in the middle of her head a few stray hairs falling down carelessly and her skin wrinkled beneath her fingers as she rub the back of her neck.

He felt like a deer caught in the headlights when she finished making her drink and turned to find him watching her. She jumped slightly, spilling some of her tea over the egde of her mug. She placed her other hand on her chest and his stomach lurched again, remembering his hands pressed to her skin last night.

"You scared me" she whispered across the room. His feet wouldn't move. She met his gaze and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear. He saw the slow creep of a blush up her neck and to her cheeks. She looked away from him, to the floor and to the door and to the space behind him until she places her mug on the table and turned to the cupboard.

"Do you want some breakfast?" She called over her shoulder as she reached for the butter in the fridge. Draco's stomach lurched again and he couldn't stop the dirty thoughts running through his mind. He took a quiet breath to steady himself before he joined her, flicking on the kettle and reaching for a mug and the coffee.

He brushed his arm against hers purposefully and she glanced at the spot where his arm touched her but still doesn't look at him. He reached over her to grab the sugar and she stills until his hand is back across his side of the counter. She pulls a butter knife from the draw and slowly opens the bread and pulls out a slice. She reaches over him to put in the toaster and she takes her time to press the button. Her hair is a breath away and he leans in slightly until it tickles his face. She smells of sleep and her room and vanilla and it makes his stomach lurch again.

She looked at him then, when he was so close. She turned her head, still leaning slightly over him and he finally sees her deep brown eyes and the way her lips open so lightly and he was captivated. As he was last night. As he was the night before. As he has been for what could possible be weeks but is only realising now just how much and he can feel himself trembling. He's terrified. Even after last night, after he had touched her and kissed her he is more terrified of this because this is somehow more intimate than anything that has ever happened.

This is acknowledgement. This is a moment of waking. A realisation that he wanted to kiss her not only in the quiet, sparse moments that they have on their own but at any moment he could.

So he kissed her. A gentle press of his lips to hers. She droped the knife she was holding and it clatters to the floor but they both ignore it. He turns when she turns and he feels her arms wrap around his shoulders and he grips her waist and pulls her into him. He is unable to stop himself and he backs her into the counter, his hands roaming over her nightwear and she is the same. Pushing her hands under his t-shirt and dragging her fingers over his stomach.

He grips her bottom and in a second he lifts her to sit on the edge of the counter. Hermione wraps her legs around his waist, pulling him into her. She is kissing him so fervently, massaging her tongue against his. He is shaking. He is shaking everywhere and her hands are stroking down his back and he digs his fingers into her thighs and she is moaning into his lips and it vibrates somewhere deep within him.

She pulled back a fraction but he doesn't want to stop kissing her, so he moves his hands to frame her face and kisses her again distracting her from her thoughts. It works, for a few more precious seconds she kisses him until she is pressing her hand forcefully to his chest making his stomach lurch - and not in a good way this time. He opens his eyes and watches the her way her nose is turned to the air and wrinkling because of all the sniffing she is doing.

He smells it too then, a feint burning. She turns to him, confusion written all over her face and then, flattens her hands to his chest and pushes him back forcefully into the kitchen table. Draco grabs onto a chair for support trying to understand what is going on as he stands slowly.

"Shit!" Hermione yells loudly as she presses the cancel button on the side of the toaster. Two black pieces of toast pop out of the top and she plucks at them until the are lying, black and burnt on the kitchen counter.

"It's just fucking toast." Draco says into the space between them, trying to catch his breath. He places his hand on the side of his chest, where he fell against one of the kitchen chairs. He can already feel it bruising.

"You distracted me." She bites back quickly.

"Did you have to push me so fucking hard?"

"I didn't want the house to burn down!"

"It's burnt toast! Not a fucking kitchen fire!"

"It could have been worse!"

"Yeah like a bruised chest because you're an idiot!"

"Whoa!" Harry burst into the kitchen and places himself between Draco and Hermione. "What's going on?" Hero-boy here to save the day. He places a hand on Draco's shoulder which he is quick to smack away. Harry turns to look at Hermione and Draco can see the scowl on her face. He smirks at her because he know it will piss her off even more and he see's her eyes widen in annoyance.

"Want to tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing." Hermione bites quickly but then he see's the change in her face when she looks at him. She softens. The way she did last night with him and he remembers everything that happened in a wave and he is no longer angry at her. He is angry at the toast. For burning and interrupting them. "It was just a silly argument." Her eyes flick to Draco and he straightens up. Harry turns to him too.

"Yeah. It's fine."

"Do I need to move one of you to Andromeda's?"

"No." Hermione said quickly and Draco smirked at her over Harry's shoulder. "We're adult enough to deal with this situation."

Draco nodded when Harry looked at him. He didn't want to leave and he certainly didn't want her to leave. Not now. Not when they had just... had just found whatever this was.

"Okay." Harry said ruffling his hair. "I need to leave. Can I trust that you two will not kill each other while I'm gone?"

"Promise." Draco said, dragging his finger in a cross over his heart as Hermione nodded and looked to her feet.

They stayed where they were until the heard the kitchen door close behind Harry and a few seconds later, the pop of Apparition signalling he had left. His heart was thumping, banging. Was it the argument or the anticipation he could feel rushing inside of him? He could see the heavy rise and fall of her chest too.

"I'm going for a shower." He said quietly before he turned to leave. When he reached the door he turned back to look at her. She was watching him carefully from across the room. "I'll leave the door open for you." He said with another smirk as he left the room and made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

She had stayed there in the quiet kitchen for a full two minutes as she listened to the close of the bathroom door behind him and the rush of water running hitting the basin before she had made up her mind. She didn't know what she was doing. She just knew that she wanted to go in there, to see what it would be like. With every quiet step she took going up the stairs her heart pumping faster and faster. Just as she reached the top to take the last step to the door, Neville clambered down from the third floor.

"Is someone in there?" He called along the corridor.

Her heart stopped beating. She had been seconds away from Neville watching her walk into the bathroom and the blood rushed to her head. She watched him pound on the door. "Who's in there?"

"I am." Draco's muffled voice called back.

Neville turned the handle and gripped the door happy that it had been left unlocked. "Sorry mate! I'm desperate!" Neville called to Draco as he burst into the bathroom and started relieving himself with the door wide open for Hermione to see.

She burst out laughing just as Theo walked out of his room. "Even heard of boundaries, Neville?"

Draco's head swung around the shower curtain which made her laugh even more. All thoughts of them being caught had been replaced. He yelled at Neville as he finished and begun washing his hands. "Longbottom get the fuck out, now!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" He rushed as he left the bathroom but failed to close the door behind him as he began to make his way downstairs. Draco turned to Hermione and Theo who had tears in their eyes they were laughing so much.

"Unless you want to stare at my naked form for the next twenty minutes I suggest one of you shuts the door."

"I don't know." Theo shook his head. "It's an interesting proposition." He turned to Hermione next to him and she was silently laughing into her hand and Theo smiled even wider.

"Hermione?" She didn't quite know exactly what Draco was propositioning when he said her name like that but she liked it. It wasn't a question, it was more of a statement. A plea of some sorts. Was it for her to shut the door, or to join him? She thought about it, joining him but with Theo next to her that wasn't an option.

She smiled at Theo then walked towards the bathroom door without a word. Draco's eyed went wide looking at her moving closer and closer to the door. She stepped into the room and smiled up at him, his wet hair falling into his eyes and she longed to shut the door behind her and join him. To feel his wet, warm skin beneath he fingers and finish what they has started in the kitchen. She took a deep breath before she took the door handle between her fingers and pulled the door shut behind her with a smirk.

* * *

She had waited until she had heard the click of his bedroom door before she made her own way into the bathroom to shower. She rushed it, knowing exactly where she would be going after she had finished. She dried her hair with her wand, letting it hang in soft loose curls around her shoulders. She then left her room and walked across the hallway, rapping her knuckles against his door.

He opened it a few seconds later dressed in a grey jumper and dark jeans. The grey seemed to illuminate his eyes and they shone from the winter sun making its way into his room from the large window on the back wall.

"I wanted to talk about the house."

"Sure." He stepped back and allowed her entry to his bedroom. It felt a rather poingniant moment, stepping over the threshold although in all honesty there was nothing much in there. The walls were a basic magnolia and his bedsheets were a pale blue that matched the curtains. She walked over to the window and looked down at the garden.

Theo was down there, standing with his bare feet on the frosted grass with a cup of something in his hand and taking in the sun. Something that was rare for this time of year. Despite the sun it was still December. He only had jeans and a shirt on. He must have been freezing.

"He does that a lot." Draco said from her side. He was watching him too.

"Isn't he cold?"

"Probably, but he likes to feel it." He turned to her and his eyes roamed her face in a sad sort of way before he passed her and went to sit on his bed.

It hit her like a tonne of bricks. Theo had died. He had stopped breathing. He may have never ever had the chance to do that again. To stand in the sun and feel the rays touch his skin, to feel the frost bite at his toes or to feel the chill of the wind ruffle his hair.

She supposed that was why he was out there. To experience it when he could. Because in this War you never knew when you're time would be up. It could happen now. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week.

Hermione had two such instances where she had been close to the end. One before she got put into White Rabbit safe house and the incident which saw her move to this safe house. To Blackgate.

Then it was all Dean. He couldn't hear the wind, he couldn't feel the sun or touch... That's why she was here. To fight for what Dean could have had. To fight for what Theo has and what his future could be. What all their futures could be.

"Granger." Draco called from his bed, his eyes watching her face closely as she finally tore her eyes away from Theo. She blinked away the fading memory of Dean and passed Draco a piece of paper she had been working on since she woke up in the morning.

"I think it's the best option. Go at night with the cloak. If we can get inside then that would be a bonus."

She didn't want to risk anything. Her life or his but as they were the only ones that knew about the house it was the only option. Rather this than get anyone else involved and have the Ashes find out about their plan.

"Okay." Draco nodded after some time of scanning her proposal. "When?"

"Tonight."

* * *

 **Saturday 19th December**

The evening came quickly much to Draco's disappointment. Not that he wasn't looking forward to walking into what could potentially be a Death Eater trap. Although he could think of worse things do be doing.

He had accompanied Potter to Andromeda's at the request of Kingsley and had been tasked with getting Theo's agreement with something that he could only think would inevitably end in disaster. They wanted him to talk to his Father. Draco had no idea that they had captured Theo's Father a month ago. Theo it seems was also ignorant of this information and Draco would rather not be the one to tell Theo this, or try to convince him to see his Father.

But this would have to be pushed to the back of his mind, because at that moment he was crouched under Potter's invisibility cloak with Granger to his side. They had left the safety of the house at around one in the morning after Theo and Neville had gone to bed. Potter was awake and waiting for them both ( after multiple protests against Hermione's decision) and with instructions of what to do in case of an emergency. They Apparated about half a mile away and walked to this spot; the spot where they had Disapparated from only a few days ago. Granger had told him to wait, so they were waiting. He could hear her slow breaths and the shift of the cloak as her head turned, scanning the area for any movement. They had come at the best time. It was quiet, and early in the morning. The best possible chance to avoid detection however now they were here, in the dead of night, Draco was staring to regret agreeing to this.

"Let's go" She whispered quietly next to him. She grabbed onto his arm and they stood slowly together. They both checked the trees once more before they took slow steps through the brush following the wall to the back of the property. The wall rounded to their right so they turned, following it until they reached an arched opening. He grabbed her arm to stop her before she walked through.

"Wards." He whispered as quietly as he could, feeling a feint pulse of the protective enchantments begin to throb in his chest. Luckily they had planned for this. They crouched once again, in front of the archway and as Draco scanned their surroundings, Hermione began checking the wards. "Okay." She whispered after a few tense minutes, in a breathy sigh. She stood slowly and he knew breaking the wards must have taken it out of her because her breaths were heavy and she leaned on him for support. He waited patiently until she was ready, until she nodded her head but he stopped her once more.

"Stick close and don't do anything stupid." He whispered in her ear. She pulled back slowly. He could make out her eyes, glistening back at him and she stroked her finger across his lips before she kissed him. It was only for a second but he felt her stand a little straighter. That was another thing he had to move to the back of his mind. Her lips and how much he would rather take her home and continue kissing her than being here.

She moved first, stepping through the archway and Draco followed right along next to her. He held his breath as he walked though however he should have trusted her. He didn't feel any kind of magic as they made their way into the back garden of the house which meant she had successfully broken through the wards.

They walked slowly down the pathway that lead to the house and with a silent _'Alohamora'_ the lock clicked and they opened the door. They found themselves in a dark wooden clad hallway, luckily carpeted to hide their footsteps, with three doors dotted along the hallway and a staircase to their left. Hermione drew the cloak over their heads and wrapped it up into her jacket pocket. Draco nodded towards the first door to their right and stepped past her backing himself into the wall to its side and motioned for her to do the same on the other side.

He could see her face. She was scared and he was sure she was looking at the same look on his face. He kept eye contact with her and took a few deep breaths, wishing he were anywhere but here. Wishing he could take her away, stow her away somewhere safe, lock away the key until all of this was over but she would never forgive him. She needed this as much as he did. She needed to see this through until the end, to be a part of this until it was over and it felt like he needed the same. When he could feel his nerves subside, he mouthed _one, two_ and on the count of three he opened the door and stepped inside. He scanned the room quickly with his wand outstretched.

When he was satisfied it was empty he turned to see Hermione doing the same until he nodded at her and she lowered her wand. The room was full of parchment scattered all over a large table in the centre of the room. She grabbed the papers, checking the open doorway behind her every so often and sifted them into a small bag she had concealed inside her jacket. When she was happy she nodded to him and they stepped together out of the room and along the hallway to the next door.

As before he backed himself to one side of the door and Hermione on the other. This time she opened the door and stepped inside with him close behind her. It was empty. A small tiled kitchen with a few plates piled up in the sink which meant someone either was here, or still was here. She turned and pointed to the sink and he nodded and placed his finger to his mouth then nodded to the hallway for her to follow.

As they stepped towards the last door along the hallway, Draco was sure that he heard something. It sounded faintly like someone turning over in bed. It could have been nothing. The darkness can play tricks on the mind and Draco fought down that sickly feeling that had been building in his stomach ever since he entered this house.

Once again, the same routine found them backing into the wall beside the door. After a few more deep breaths he opened the door, wand outstretched in front of him and his eyes immediately fell to a form below the window.

 _"Petrificus Totalus."_ He whispered and held out his arm to stop Hermione getting any closer. Her eyes were wide and her mouth parted. She placed her hand on his arm and lowered it so she could pass by him. He kept his wand trained on the dark form below the window whilst she crept over to where the form was lying. He used a quick _'Lumos'_ charm to illuminate the room and he immediately stopped in his tracks.

From what he could see it was a young man, probably a few years older than Draco. His hands were bound together by a rope that was tied up to a radiator. His wrists were red raw, most probably from trying to free himself and he looked like he had been beaten up, badly.

"We need to get him out of here." Hermione whispered back at him as she used her wand to slice through the rope keeping him tied up. Draco stepped toward her and grabbed her wrist before she could reverse his spell.

"We don't know who he is."

"Even if he's on their side, they did this to him. He could help us."

He didn't like the idea. They came here to search the house for clue's, for the stone, not to play saviour for someone who may have got themselves in with the wrong crowd. But she was right. If he was on their side before, it looks like he wasn't now.

"Quickly." He nodded to her and checked the empty hall behind him.

"We're going to get you out of here," he heard her whisper to the man, "but you need to keep quiet okay?" She waited a few seconds before she reversed his spell.

"Thank you." The man whispered back to her in an accent he couldn't yet place as she helped him to his feet.

"They're going to know we were here." Draco whispered to her across the room.

"I can replace the wards. We need to get him to the archway." She said quietly back to him. The man was struggling next to her, making noisy footsteps as they made their way back into the dark hallway. Draco ushered them out of the room as he listened for any movements above them as they stepped closer to the exit.

Just as they reached the front door, he heard a dull thud behind him and he immediately spun round. He could see a terrified look on Hermione's face. The man they had been helping had fallen to his knees. Draco held up his hand to stop her from helping him back up, waiting to see if any noise came from upstairs.

It felt hours that they stood there in the silence, waiting. Waiting for a bang of a door, waiting for a scream of a spell and for a green flash of light be seen. However nothing came and he had never been more relieved in his life. Draco nodded and helped Hermione lift the man back to his feet. "I'm sorry." The man whispered.

"It's okay." Hermione replied with a grimace as she tried and failed to help him. They needed to get out of here and fast. Draco ushered for Hermione to walk on first, then hooked the mans arm around his neck, hoisting him and taking most of his weight.

In a few small steps they were out of the house. As they made their way slowly back along the path Draco could see Hermione a few steps in front of them, checking all around for anything out of place and his heart pounded in his chest and his ears as they finally passed through the archway a few seconds later.

He watched as she murmured the incantations, replacing whatever wards she had taken down when they arrived. After a few tense and silent moments, she breathed a heavy sigh and turned back to them. She nodded her head, reaching out to grasp onto Draco's arm and seconds later, they arrived back at Blackgate.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! Can you guess who the man might be? - Think I made it quite obvious...**

 **Please leave a review and let me know if you like the way this is going!**

 **Going to shamelessly plug my new story _Journals_. It's a multi-pairing story (Eventual Dramione). A bit different but please go check it out and leave me a review if you like it. It would mean so much to me as I really want to keep writing it but haven't had much feedback as of yet.**

 **Much love, Elle x**


	22. The Stranger

**December 19th - Early morning**

"I've patched him up as best as I can but he might need checking over by a MediWizard." Hermione tunred to Harry and Draco, currently both sat in the two armchairs infront of the fire in the living room. "He sleeping now." She finished, placing herself on the large sofa.

"It was stupid, of both of you to bring him back here." Harry said, sitting forward and intertwining his hands infront of him.

"What should we have done?" Draco said quietly, rubbing his hands over his face.

"You think it would have been better to have left him there?" Hermione added in exhaustion.

"This could be a trap." Harry said, standig up abrutply and walking towards the slowly burning fire.

Hermione glanced towards Draco. He caught her eye and shrugged his shoulders. Hermione took a deep breath before she spoke. "Harry, his wounds are real."

"How do you know?" Harry snapped and she had to take another deep breath before she continued. "Because I cleaned him up. I did the checks... Harry, there isn't any magic in him."

Draco turned to her, eyes wide in confusion. "What?"

"I think he's a muggle..."

"A Muggle Wizard?"

"No. Just a Muggle." Hermione confirmed.

Silence in the room. Hermione had made the checks. She recouted the amount of times she had waved her wand over the unconscious man and she had found no trace in him. No magic other than that which had been used upon him.

"But what... what do they want with a Muggle?" Harry said quietly.

"Why would he be important?" Draco said wiht his head in his hands.

Harry turned towards the door and began to make his way across the room. "We need to speak to him."

"He's sleeping." Hermione stood up, reached out and placed a hand on Harry's chest to stop him from leaving. "I've given him some pain potion. There's no talking to him until the morning."

"Well we need to do something!"He seemed to scream in her face.

Draco stood up immediately and pushed Harry back a few paces. "Don't." He snapped in a warning tone. "Just..." He looked back at her for a second before turning his attention back to an angry Harry. "Listen to her. She planned it well, we got back safe, she's checked this guy over and I trust her judgement."

Harry moved slightly, to get a better view of her. For a second she thought he might yell, maybe scream more but he just shook his head and turned his back to the both of them. Hermione took a deep breath as Draco turned back to her.

"I'll go make sure he can't do a dissappearing act on us in the night and then in the morning we can take it from there." He was acting so calm yet she could see the tendons in his neck flexing with simmering anger.

" _Thank you."_ She whispered. He stood there for a few seconds, scanning her face. She felt his fingers brush the back of her hand before he moved around her and out of the room.

She took a breath herself and rubbed at her eyes, trying to ignore the start of a headache beginning to spread across her forehead. She wondered why everything was always so complicated. She longed for the day when he only thought would be about what book she would read that day. Or where she would take a walk.

When she looked up, Harry was watching her from across the room.

"I'm just worried." He said in an exhausted sigh.

"We all are, Harry." She stared at the floor picking at her fingers until two arms wrapped round her waist, pulling her into a lung crushing hug.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, kissing the side of her head. "Everything is just fucked." She chuckled into his shirt and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"I know."

They stood there for a few moments, enjoying the comfort in one another before Hermione finally released him and stepped back.

"I'm surprised you know... you two working together." He nodded in the direction that Draco had just left.

She nodded. "I'm surprised myself." Leaving out all the other details that Harry did not need to know. "But it's not worth it. You know... fighting someone on the same side as you." She added.

"We're all in it together." Harrry said with wide eyes. He gripped her hand, squeezing tightly in comforting reassurance before he said goodnight and left the room. As she heard his plodding footsteps ascending the stairs, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

She should be tired. She should be falling asleep where she stood. It was well after three in the morning but there was no tiredness in her. She supposed it was the adrenaline. The fear that she felt the past few hours was keeping her awake, running through her veins and it had not yet subsided.

Would it ever be normal? Would all this just dissappear eventually? Would she be able to just leave the house without fear of being kidnapped, or tortured, or killed?

Maybe not. Maybe this is what her future was going to be like from now on. A neverending life of fighting rebellion group after rebellion group. A life in safe houses, tucked away fron the outside world. Fighting what felt like a losing battle.

She shook the thoughts from her mind, took a few breaths. She felt familiar soft hands press either side of her waist and at that moment she decided to ignore all thoughts of her impending doom.

"Has he gone to bed?" Draco whispered gently in her ear. It made her stomach flip.

"Yes." She said turning round to face him. He looked just as awake as she felt. "We should go to bed too." She placed her hands gently on his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

"We should." He replied, brusing a stand of hair behind her ear.

His touch lingered on her face and he gently brushed his hand against he cheek. His fingers stroked down her neck as she crept her arms around his waist and gripped at the sides of his jumper. Carefully, he threaded his hand around her neck and through her hair, guiding her face closer to his until their lips met.

She slid her hands round his back, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. Draco held her face as he opened his mouth to her, allowing her tongue to massage against his. Her fingers slipped under the hem of his jumper to tickle the bottom of his back eliciting a groan from his mouth that seemed to vibrate through her. He broke their kiss and reached round his back grabbing for Hermione's hand and pulled her along behind him from the room.

* * *

He held her hand, pulling her up the stairs behind him, being careful to be as quiet as possible. They crept hand in hand along the hallway past Theo's door, watching along the hall for any signs of movement from the floor above them. When Draco reached for the handle of his door he could feel the steady drum of his excited heratbeat as he guided her inside and let go of her hand to close the door and cast a silencing charm on the room.

When he turned to find Hermione, she was standing by the side of his bed, watching him carefully. Her eyes seemed to glow from the low light emitting from the lamp beside his bed and a chill ran down his spine. He watched as she slowly pulled her hoodie over her head, a small part of her flat stomach on view for a second before she dropped her hoodie on the floor and adjusted her top.

He didn't move. He wanted to see what would happen, so he pulled the jumper he was wearing over his head and dropped it onto the floor beside his feet but kept to his position on the other side of his room.

Hermione stared at him, lips slightly parted. She watched as he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt, pulling this over his head revealing his chest to her. The only sound in the room was the silent drum of their breaths as they watched one another. Her eyes raked over his torso then back to his face.

Hermione took a step closer to him and while biting her bottom lip she took off her top and dropped it on the floor. Draco shuffled out of his shoes and slowly began to undo the belt on his trousers. He kept his eyes on her the whole time and she watched carefully as he unclasped the belt and popped two of the buttons from the fly of his trousers. Her hands found the button and zip of her jeans and she shuffled herself out of her trousers, watching him as he copied her, until they were both standing opposite one another in their underwear.

He hadn't been able to appreciate her body properly the other night because it had been too dark but he resolved that it definitely looked as good as it had felt. Olive skin, round breasts, a small waist that curved out as his eyes fell to her hips. Draco had only ever seen one girl naked before; Pansy; and she was so different to Hermione.

He saw her scars. Everyone of them from the battles she had fought and won. A trophy of her achievements. It made him ache to his bones. That he and others had been the one to help give her those scars. He wanted to kiss them. To place his mouth on the white raised skin to see if he could try to mend them. Take them all away.

He took the last tentative step towards her, her eyes shining up at him as he placed his hands either side of her face and pressing his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms round his shoulders for support and sunk into him. He could feel the skin of their stomach's pressing against one another and she moaned into his mouth as he moved his hands to her waist and round her back, pulling her closer and feeling her skin under his fingertips.

With every second that passed it felt more urgent. She was gripping onto him, pressing her fingertips into his skin which only excited him more and more. Draco shuffled them back towards his bed, threaded his arm around her waist and lowered her onto her back. He fitted himself in between her legs, his hard dick pushing into Hermione's crotch, pushing a small gasp to escape from her rosy lips.

He moved to kiss her cheeks, her jawline, down the the fragile skin of her neck. He kissed everywhere. Kissing the small white tear at the middle of her throat, moving to her shoulder to kiss another jagged scar, searching for the next and finding one on her collarbone until he reached the swell of her breasts.

He hesitated. Only for a second but in that time she pushed him back before he could restart his lips on her skin. Her hair tickled his face as she unhooked her bra. It smelt of her shampoo. The same scent everytime he went into the bathroom. She lay back down beneath him, pulled the straps over her arm and placed it carefully on the bed next to her.

He lent down and pressed his lips to her's again, trying as best as he could to put everything he was feeling into the kiss. That this felt amazing. That he was excited and dare he think it, comfortable with her. He wanted her to feel the same. She must do... otherwise she wouldn't be here. Trusting him to kiss her and touch her. She wouldn't be kissing him back nor circling her fingertips lightly across his chest.

His hand snaked up her stomach and stroked the underside of her breast, tickling lightly until he placed his hand around it and massaged gently. He found her pert nipple, circling and teasing it between his thumb and forefinger as she dragged her fingertips across his shoulders. He moved his head to her breast and licked slowly around her nipple before kissing it then taking it into his mouth sucking gently.

When he grazed his teeth over her nipple he felt her hand push between their stomachs' and tickle his skin just above the band of his underwear. It made him hiss between his teeth. He looked up at her, lips slightly parted, hair splayed out around her head, pupils dilated. She looked so sexy, so relaxed with a slight rosy tinge to her cheeks.

He felt a lurch in his stomach. He wasn't stupid. He knew that this meant something to her. He knew that she wasn't the type of girl to do this on a whim. Neither was he. He'd only ever been with one girl and he hadn't exactly put his all into it back then. So this was something. This meant something to him too.

With that thought, he wanted to make it feel like it meant something too. So he kissed her deeper, running his hands over her stomach and breasts. Her hand teased the material of his underwear making it a difficult decision to make to put his own selfish ideals aside.

He kissed where he had before. Starting at her neck, moving down to her chest, massaging her breasts as he kissed her nipples, running his tongue from one to the other. He licked down to her belly button then kissed the skin covering her ribs all the way down until his mouth found the band of her knickers.

He nipped at the thin lace with his teeth, then climbed onto his knees between her legs. He looked at her as he hooked his fingers under her waistband. "Are you okay?" He whispered to her. She nodded quickly then lifted her bottom, allowing Draco easier access to remove her knickers. He held her gaze as he slid the lace knickers over her legs and placed them on the bed next to her discaded bra.

He lent down and kissed her deeply then dragged her bottom lip between his teeth, making her moan and buck lightly into him. He shuffled back down between her legs, resting his knees on the floor. He kissed her stomach, licking down the path he took before. His fingers stroked up her thighs, teasing and tickling until he could feel the heat between her legs. He stroked one finger along her opening, feeling hot excited she was. He circled his finger around her entrance, coating it with her juices before he pushed his finger inside of her.

Her back arched and she whispered ' _fuck'_ into the air. He wanted to hear it again, so he licked slowly around her clit and pulled his finger out of her. He circled her entrance again then pushed it back inside. ' _Fuck'_ she whispered again. He moved his tongue back and forth across her clit whilst his finger curled inside of her. Her leg began to twitch against his arm as pushed a second finger inside of her. She called out for the muggle god over and over again as he sucked her excited bud between his lips and kept his fingers pumping slowly in and out of her.

His dick was hard between his legs and he wanted nothing more than to feel what his fingers were feeling, to push deep inside of her - but he kept on doing what he was doing. Feeling her move. Listening to her moan. His tongue pressing harder and moving faster from side to side over her clit. His mouth and fingers were getting tired but he kept on going, the drive of her cries keeping him going to make her feel like this. To make her reach her peak and then push her over the edge. She knitted her fingers in his hair and whispered _'Draco... there... I'm coming.'_ In a second her moans filled his ears, echoing around the room and her thighs tightened around his face.

After a while, when he breathing calmed down and her cries were just a muffled moan, he pulled his fingers out of her and licked at her juices, making her moan and giggle. He climbed beside her on the bed, pulling her back against his chest, breathing in the vanilla scent of her hair. He was already thinking about the next time. The next time he could do this, to feel her and to make her moan like he just did. He would have done it again right then if she would have asked, but he felt the her breaths steady themselves out and the gentle twitch of her body as she fell to sleep wrapped up in his arms.

Once he pulled a blanket over the both of them it wasn't long before sleep took him too. With the warmth of her skin pressed against his and the vanilla scent of her hair in his lungs, it was the deepest and most uninterrupted sleep he had had in a long time.

* * *

"'How are you feeling?"

Ewan. This was the strangers name. Hermione has found this whilst she had been talking to him for the past few minutes. He was an attractive guy. He had dark brown hair, brilliant blue eyes and a soft features that made her feel more at ease with him every passing minute. It could have also been his relaxed Scottish accent - she had always been a sucker for an accent.

"A wee bit sore... other than that I'm alright." He smiled as best he could. He had a large brusie surrounding his right eye, small fractured cuts on his cheeks and last night she had found him to have a fractured collar bone. She had patched him up as best she could but she could tell, even with his left arm in a sling and the amount of pain potion he had been given, he was struggling.

She had helped him to sit himself up in bed. Last night, Draco had tied a rope from his wrist to the metal headboard which didn't leave much room for him to move around. They had all agreed that it needed to stay that way until the figured out exactly what the Ashes wanted with him.

"I'm sorry about that." She said nodding to his binded wrist. "It's a precaution."

He tugged at the rope slightly and and shrugged his shoulders. "Aye, I get it... I think."

Draco stepped into the room and Hermione stood from the chair by the side of the patients bed and joined him.

"Ewan, this is Draco." The two managed a nod of acknowledgement to one another however the introudction was shortlived as Harry stepped into the room.

"Harry, this is Ewan." Hermione nodded towards the bed.

"Hi." Ewan said in a wary voice.

"What were you doing in that house?" Harry immediately started in a muted tone, his arms crossed over his chest.

" _They_ took me there."

"How long were you there?" Draco asked.

"Weeks, maybe a month... but I can't be sure."

"What did they want with you?" Harry urged.

"They didn't want me specifically, just to keep me."

Harry shooked his head in confusion. "I don't understand?"

"Look..." Ewan began, looking at the three of them. "I don't wantea get anyone in trouble. It's complicated."

"Ewan, you need to tell us what's going on." Hermione urged this time, hoping that he would open up so they could try and figure all of this out.

"Those people. " He said quietly. "They aren't normal. I mean..."

"You mean they're different to you." Hermione checked, thinking she might know what Ewan was implying.

"Aye, but no' good different."

She turned to Draco and Harry. Draco slowly pulled his wand out of the pocket of his trousers and held it ut infront of him, pointing towards Ewan.

Ewan sunk back into the bed as if trying to put distance between them and him. "You... you're one of them?"

"We're not one of them... but we are different." Draco said calmly. With a wave of his wand, the rope binding Ewan's wrist to the bed, dissapeared.

"She..." Hermione could see Ewan's mind running overtime as he looked at his wrist. "You can do it too..." He asked shakily, "All of you?"

The three of them nodded in agreement and the room fell silent. They watched as Ewan closed his eyes and took a few breaths.

"My girlfriend." He said after a long few moments. "She can do it too."

"Is that why you were at that house? Because of your girlfriend?" Hermione asked gently and Ewan nodded slowly in response.

"We're here to help." Harry said calmly. "You just need to tell us what's going on."

Ewan sniffed loudly and rubbed his eyes with his now free hand. He took a few deep breaths then looked from Harry to Draco, finally speaking directly to Hermione.

"I havnae seen her in weeks. Her Da' ain't the nicest of men. He didn't like it when he found out about me and her."

Hermione moved closer to Ewan, sitting on the chair by the side of his bed.

"He did somethin' to me, hurt like hell. Felt like my insides we're fucking burning." Ewan placed a hand on his chest and rubbed, as if remembering the pain. The cruciatus curse, Hermione was sure of it.

"I must have passed out or somthin' 'cause when I wake up I'm no' at my house. I start to freak out, I couldnae move ma legs so I start yelling and this big fucker comes in, long greasy hair and he does whatever her Da' did to me before." Hermione watches the visable shudder in his shoulders. "Then it stops and I can see Pansy screaming at him. I tried to get up but I must've passed out again."

Hermione immediately turns to Harry and Draco at the sound of that name. They both catch her eye but turn their attention back to Ewan as he continued his story.

"I wake up again and she's there. She said she's gotta do somethin', go away for a while and leave me here but that she'll come back to get me. I didn't understand any of it."

"You haven't seen her since?" Harry pressed.

Ewan shook his head and looked down at his bed. Silence fell on the room once more as they all contemplated the story he had just told.

"Pansy?" Hermione questioned gently after a few minutes. "Is she your girlfriend?" She placed her hand on his and squeezed reassuringly. She could feel the knot in her stomach tighten as Ewan nodded and confirmed their suspicion.

"Aye, Pansy Parkinson."

* * *

"What did he say?" Pansy whispered to the tall red haired man, currently closing the kitchen door behind him.

"He practically begged me to get her protocol meeting done. They must be low on the ground if they are desperate enough to want that Mudblood's help."

"When?"

"Tomorrow." Adrian said.

"Then will you tell him? Will you tell him I helped you?" Pansy urged.

He could see it. He could see the desperation written all over her face and she was stupid to let her guard down in front of him. She saw a nasty sneer creep across the softness of Charlie Weasley's face.

"What's in it for me?" Ade said with a smirk, placing a finger on her chest and running it down her stomach.

"Ade, don't fuck with me." She slapped his hand away and stepped back from him.

"I'm not - but I want to." He licked his lips and closed the gap between them. She backed up into the kitchen side.

"You're disgusting." He smirked again, his eyes roaming all over Penelope's body.

"I think..." He stepped closer to her pressing Charlie's body into hers. "If you want me to help you, you better start playing nice with me." He lifted his hand and stroked his fingers down the side of her face. Pansy shuddered. Charlie Weasley had never looked evil but with Adrian Pucey taking on his form, he looked warped. Twisted in someway.

His hand moved to grip her chin, making Pansy look at him. "You want you're boyfriend back?" Adrian snarled, his fingers pressing into her skin. "Then you be a good girl tomorrow and I'll think about how you can repay me." His hand left her chin and creeped it's way down her neck.

Pansy turned her face away from him and closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the tightening grip of his fingers around her neck. As his other hand moved lower in the direction of Penelope's breasts she bit back that sickly feeling from her stomach and thought of Ewan and how she would be with him soon. Thankfully Adrian stopped just short of her breasts but his hands roamed her waist and stomach. The next thing she knew he had taken a hold of her hair and pulled her face towards his, kissing her and forcing his tongue into her mouth.

None of this would mean anything. She could forget it all soon. She just had to get through it. Even if it meant getting through Pucey. She had done and would do whatever it took to get out of here. So she kissed him back, closing her eyes tightly and imagining a different scenario to this. Where she wasn't a pawn for the war-crazed. Where she wasn't used, or blackmailed but somewhere where she was wanted and loved and cherished and cared for.

After a few minutes he stepped back from her. She didn't want to open her eyes to see his face but she could hear him sniggering, watching her. She must have looked so pathetic. When she heard the kitchen door open and close she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally he had gone and she was alone. After a few seconds her fingers started to tingle and her heart began to race. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She pulled the jumper over he head and threw it across the room, bending over, placing her hands on her knees. Then she felt it, the gurgling deep in her stomach. She reached the sink just in time, retching the contents of her stomach into the porcelain basin.

Then the silence crept in. The enormity of just what she had gotten herself into suddenly dawned on her. She slid to the floor, resting her back against the cupboards doors and tried to breathe as slowly as she could, closing her eyes and focussing on the image of him in her mind. Wishing for Ewan's cottage, and the lake and the rain and the wind and his arms, wrapped around her and keeping her safe.

* * *

 **A/N: I'mm soo sorrrryyyyyyy**

 **But I'm back and it's all go from here I swear.**

 **I switched tense in the last chapter! FFS I'mm sorrryyyy. I hope it didn't ruin the chapter too much for you all. I will go back and change it so it flows a bit better once the next chapter is live.**

 ** **How are you all enjoying the story? I hope you are all still on board! Let me know via a review and I'll love you all even more!****

 ** ** ** ** ** **Next chapter within the next week hopefully! ** ** ** **Much love, Elle x********************


	23. Changing

**Sunday 20th December**

"What?"

Hermione watched on as Theo stared, his eyebrows kitted in confused at Draco across the kitchen table.

"They need you to go see your Father." Draco said again, slower this time to Theo across the silence in the room. Neville was standing by the back door his arms folded over his chest, looking down to the floor and Hermione had taken her place by the kitchen door. It was just in case Theo tried to make a run for it. Not that he was a flight risk in anyway... but when it came to Theo's Father, Draco said he didn't want to take any chances.

Theo was silent, staring at Draco. His mouth was pulled tightly, as if he were grinding his teeth. Hermione hated being a part of this. After everything Theo had done, all the information he had given The Order. When they said they would keep him safe they were now asking him to confront his own Father, who believed his son was dead. If they wanted to shock Nott into providing any more information they were going the right way about it.

Poor Theo. He had wanted to get away from his Father. To be safe and have a chance at a different future. Now he had to face him again after all these months. If it were her, if it were Hermione's Father, if she were in Theo's position she wouldn't blame him if he said no. She probably would too.

"Why?" Theo asked through gritted teeth. Draco rubbed his hand over his face. She could see the tiredness in his eyes as he tried to find the words to explain the reasons why. Hermione felt so sorry for Draco. Why had someone more senior not taken up this task? It wasn't Draco's decision, so why did the task of telling Theo fall to him? Maybe because he was a friend. His best friend. Maybe he could help Theo understand.

"They think seeing you will make him talk."

"Who is they?"

"Kingsley and the others." Draco confirmed.

"They don't know my Father." Theo said shaking his head.

"No but you do. You might be able to get him to talk."

"So why aren't they here?" Theo said louder this time. "Why aren't they here telling me this?" His ringing voice echoed around the room. Draco couldn't find the words to answer him. Theo looked to Neville who kept his eyes to the floor, his face flooded with guilt. Then he turned to Hermione and shook his head.

"No." He said to her. "No." He repeated, turning back to Draco. "I wont do it."

Hermione felt like crying. She knew Theo would say no and she knew what Draco would have to say next. He had briefed her and Neville before asking for their help. "I know... I know it will be hard for you..."

"Hard is a fucking understatement mate. You know exactly what he's like." Theo's voice was slowly increasing in volume, despite how calm Draco was trying to keep the conversation.

"I do. I know what he's like. I've been there right along with you..."

"You're not listening to me." Theo cut him off, "I'm not fucking doing it. End of conversation" He said louder again, pushing back his chair and standing up. Maybe that's why she felt so guilty. That at the end of the day it wasn't Theo's decision to make.

"Theo..." Draco said exhaustedly, covering his eyes with his fists and talking down to the table. "It's already been decided."

Hermione could feel the tears creeping into her eyes. She didn't want to look at Theo but he caught her eye and he looked so desperate.

"I wanted out." Theo directed to her. He sat down slowly, shaking his head, trying to make sense of it all. Something that Hermione had been trying to do all morning. "I helped, I gave everything, I told them everything, I can't... Draco." Draco looked up at his friend and Hermione could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"Please." Theo was begging. Hermione could hear his voice cracking. "I can't do this Draco, please, I can't." Hermione walked over to Theo and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." She said, not knowing what else she could say. Neville joined them at the table.

"It could help." Neville said to Theo. "He could talk to you."

"You don't know him." Theo said quietly.

"No," Hermione said. "But you do." She pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. "You know how he works."

"You can get him to talk." Neville said.

Theo looked up at Draco, who nodded his head reassuringly at him. "They're right. You can do this. Think what it might do."

Theo was very silent for a few seconds until he nodded his head. "When?" He asked quietly.

"Tomorrow." Draco confirmed.

Theo nodded again and placed his hands on the table, slowly then stood up from his chair. Both Hermione and Draco stood up too but he stopped them from moving any further. "I just... need some time on my own." He said with a crackle to his words. Draco nodded and Hermione shuffled her chair away from his, allowing him to pass by.

* * *

"Why are you here?" Ewan asked from across the living room.

"I'm a Muggle..." Ewan looked confused and rightly so. She had to check herself every now and then when they spoke. To remember he wasn't one of them. To remember that he was like she was ten years ago.

"The people that held you, they don't like Muggles. You are a Muggle. So am I but I have magical abilities unlike anyone else in my family" She clarified. He nodded slowly.

"So, Pansy - She isn't... Muggle?"

"No." She shook her head. "Pansy is like Draco, Theo and Neville. They all come from magical families."

"What about Harry?" He asked.

"He's a half blood. His Father was from a magical family but his Mother was a Muggle, like me." He nodded again. It was a lot to take in.

There was a healthy debate between them all in the house, as to what they should disclose to Ewan given his association with Pansy. Harry wanted to tell him nothing. Draco agreed with Harry. Neville, Theo and Hermione voted to tell him as much as he needed - to give him as much information to allow him to make up his own mind. So he could understand exactly what this War meant to all of them and why they were here.

"What her Da' did to me... that was magic?" He asked, looking at his hands.

"Dark magic, yes."

"Fuck." He ran his hand over his face. "Can you guys do that to?"

She closed the book that had been open in her hands and placed it on the sofa next to her. "I suppose... the ability is there." She admitted. "But it's more of a question of whether we would use it."

He held her gaze, searching her face for the answer to the next question. Hermione could see the cogs turning and she knew exactly what he was going to ask before he spoke the words.

"Would you use it?"

The question that she had been searching high and low for the answer to. Was she willing to use a spell like that? She had never before. She had been told from Harry how it felt to use the Imperius curse. She knew wheat it felt like to have the Cruciatus curse used on her. The memory made her skin pebble like Goose flesh.

"This is War for us, Ewan."

"That wasn't a no." He said in response, folding his arms over his chest and sinking slightly into the chair.

It wasn't a no. It wasn't a yes. It was indifference. Indecision. It was something she hadn't made her mind up about. If she had to, she would try - but could she muster that much hate? Could she muster that much anger? Dean's smiling face flashed across her eyes.

"You have to mean it." She said, holding his gaze. As if he could understand the ramifications by seeing how much it hurt her to talk about it all. He held her stare back. She had no idea what he was thinking but eventually he nodded, then turned away from her to stare into the crackling fire.

 _You have to mean it._

A cough from the doorway pulled her attention away from Ewan. Hermione turned her head to see Draco appear in the doorway of the lounge. Had he used it? Had he used an unforgivable curse? - she asked herself. It was something she didn't think she wanted to know the answer to.

"Can I borrow you?" He said. He had a strange look on his face. Hermione caught Ewans eye and nodded before she pushed herself off the sofa and walked towards the door.

"Is everything okay?" She asked as he took her arm and pulled her out of the earshot of the lounge.

As soon as she was out of the door he pulled her into his chest and kissed her. It took her by surprise, his kiss, the warmth between her legs, the excitement bubbling away in her chest.

She smiled into his mouth, kissing him back and running her hands up and down his arms. When his hand found the skin of her stomach she moaned softy into his mouth and he pulled her even closer.

She heard a rustle from the living room and pulled back from Draco. She stifled a laugh by placing her hand over her mouth. "That was unexpected." She whispered when she removed her hand.

"In a bad way?" He whispered back.

"No." She said placing her hands on his chest and pushing up on her toes to kiss him again. He kissed her back more urgently this time and walked her a step backwards until she felt the wall behind her.

He flushed himself up against her, both of his hands cupping the sides of her face. She had never felt anything like this before. Yes she had felt things, she had felt excitement and passion but with Draco, it seemed to feel like it was more.

Was it because of who he was? An old enemy, someone she had fought with for so long and now she was kissing him and touching him and doing things with him she never would have bet on in a million years.

Maybe it felt more because there was so much more riding on it. He was everything she used to hate and now something she was beginning to enjoy.

His kisses felt needy and he ran his fingers into her hair as their tongues met. Hermione grabbed his hips and by instinct pulled him further into her, wanting to have him as close as possible, to press his crotch into hers.

Their lips parted and he swayed away from her slightly. She looked at him and met his grey eyes. His face was a little flushed and his pupils looked large, making his eyes appear darker than normal.

"What's the matter?" Hermione whispered, keeping a hold of his hips, keeping him close to her.

He looked from her mouth to her deep brown eyes as his hands stroked along her shoulders and down her arms. "Charlie's here." He whispered.

"Now?" She whispered back.

"For your preliminary meeting."

"Oh." She wondered why he had not told her that before their kiss but quickly pushed that out of her mind. She enjoyed it so much she found she didn't care. She searched her memory for an Owl or message passed on from Harry or Arthur or Kingsley regarding her meeting but she couldn't remember receiving one.

"I thought I would have time to prepare. I've barely lifted my wand these past few weeks." She whispered to Draco.

His eyes were searching hers. "It's very out of the blue." He said mutely.

"Maybe they have another mission coming up and they need more feet on the ground." She said reassuringly.

"Maybe." He said frowning and looking to his right at the closed kitchen door.

"You're worried." Hermione said to him, seeing concern all over his face.

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "I don't trust him."

"Do you trust anyone?" Hermione whispered as she gripped his jumper between her fingers, pulling him into her once more. She felt a slight sqeeze of his hands on her wrists as their lips met again for a chaste kiss.

"He doesn't know about..." Draco nodded to towards the lounge once they parted, towards Ewan, their newest house guest. No one knew. Apart from Harry, Theo and Neville.

She released his jumper from her grasp and he stepped back from her, straightening his jumper and adjusting his trousers. She took a breath to calm herself and ran her fingers through her hair. She placed her hands to her cheeks and felt the warmth that seemed to be replicated throughout her body before she turned towards the kitchen door.

Draco was waiting for her, his hand resting on the door frame. She took a few steps and placed her hand on his chest. There was a longing to not bother with Charlie, to take Draco upstairs and carry on what he had started but her concious got the better of her.

It was after all, what she had asked for. She had been so angry about not being able to help a few weeks ago. So she pushed her selfish needs aside, took her hand from his chest and opened the door to the kitchen.

* * *

"Hi, Charlie." Hermione said brightly.

Draco watched as Charlie pushed himself off the frame of the back door.

"Shall we go into the other room?" He said, looking around the kitchen. Draco could see Theo watching Charlie carefully. Even the ever trusting Neville had a wary look upon his face.

"How about outside?" Hermione said brightly once more. It was met with a passive nod from Charlie and he watched her carefully as Hermione made her way over to him.

Her arm brushed past his as she opened the back door. Draco saw Charlie pull his wand from the pocket of his jeans before he followed her outside.

Draco did not wait more than a second before he leapt across the room, followed closely by Neville, then Theo. He caught the door just before it shut behind Charlie. The clatter his hand made as it made contact with the glass made Charlie spin around, his eyes open and wild.

Draco walked right into the tip of Charlie's wand. It was digging into his ribs and Draco shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you going to move your wand?" He said keeping eye contact with the man opposite him. His fingers danced at the hem of his own pocket - waiting for any slight movement.

Maybe Hermione was right. Maybe it was just War and War changes people. Some for good and some for bad. It had made Draco more aware of his surroundings. It had made him watch people more carefully and it had made him trust his instincts rather than what he had been taught.

His gut said something was not right with Charlie. Everything he seemed to do made Draco uneasy.

Charlie smiled at him, a wide and unnatural toothy grin. "Force of habit." He said before he lowered his wand to his side and scratched his arm. Immeditely Draco's eyes were drawn to where the arm of Charlie's large grey jumper had ridden up. His wrist looked red and raw.

Charlie hurridley covered his wrist, pulling the arm of his jumper right over his hand. He smiled that weird smile again at Draco before he glanced back to Hermione who was standing a few feet back towards the Apparition point.

"You lads mind giving us some privacy? It'll only take a few minutes."

"Don't mind if I watch do you?" Neville said stepping to Draco's side. "I'm close to getting Kingsley to approve my Watcher - so it would be good for me to see how it's done."

"It's really a private thing."

"Private?" Theo chimed in, standing to Draco's other side. "Bill did mine infront of everyone at Headquarters. I'd hardly call it private." He said with a forced smile to Charlie.

Draco could feel the tension building between Charlie and the three of them. He could see it in Charlie's eyes, the way he looked like his mind was working overtime - understanding what they were doing. That they didn't want him to be alone with her.

He could hear it in his friends voices and see it in their stances. Neville had one hand in his pocket; the pocket he kept his wand in; and Theo was fiddling with the arm of his jumper where he kept his own wand.

Hermione came into view and placed her hand on Charlie's shoulder. He shrugged it off and turned to glare at her.

Draco could see Charlie's clenched fist around his wand. His knuckles and fingers were so pale, his hand looked almost skeletal. Draco pulled out his wand and aimed it at Charlie. Everything felt wrong. His words, his looks. Everything was so un-Charlie-like.

He was ready for a fight. Theo pulled his wand out of the arm of his hooded sweater and Neville pulled his wand out of his pocket. All pointing their wands at the back of Charlie's head.

Hermione looked at them over Charlie's shoulder then looked down at Charlie's hand. He saw her look, Charlie saw Hermione's eyes on his wand and all of a sudden, he just seemed to relax. The grip on his wand loosened and he placed his wand back in his back pocket.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled some parchment, handing it over to Hermione. Neville lowered his wand first followed by Theo, then Draco - although none of them put their wand away.

"Memorise it all. I'll give you a few days." Charlie spat.

Hermione took the crumpled parchment from Charlie and looked them over before nodding. "There will be a test." He confirmed.

Draco heard Theo snigger at the smile widening on Hermione's face.

"Trust you to be excited about a test!" Neville joked to Hermione.

"Same old Granger." Charlie said under his breath with a sneer, yet everyone heard it. Hermione's smile faded. The look she gave Draco made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.

She turned back to Charlie who was already walking towards the Apparition point. "Thank you." She said slowly. She watched him until the loud pop signalled his exit. It was a few seconds before anyone spoke. They all watched the space he had just Disapparated from.

"He forgot to tell you to burn them." Neville said first, breaking the silence and shaking his head.

"What?" Hermione questioned.

"Destroy them once you've finished. It's like, rule number one." He reiterated and Theo nodded, agreeing with Neville.

"He's not right." Hermione said. "He called me Granger." She looked at Draco and he realised then, that was why she had looked so worried before. "He's never called me Granger... ever."

"He's like a different person." Theo said.

"I don't think anyone should be alone with him. Not until we figure it out." Draco said, Hermione nodded along with him.

"Did you see his wrist?" Theo questioned as they began to walk inside the house. He held the door open for them all.

Neville and Hermione shook their head as they stepped back into the kitchen but Draco nodded. "It looked like a rash or something."

"Fucking weird." Theo said. "Should we say something to Arthur?" He questioned.

"I think so." Neville said. "If anyone knows him, it's his own Dad."

"I agree." Hermione said making her way to the kitchen door. Just before she reached it she turned back. "Maybe we should speak to Ron too." She asked.

"I'll Owl him." Theo said quickly. "See if he's free tonight." Draco rolled his eyes and rested his back against the kitchen side.

"Thanks." She said with a small smile as she made her way to the door. "I'm going to go study." She announced before opening the door. She glanced back at Draco, brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled before she disappeared behind the door. He felt a stir in his stomach. It took everything in him not to run across the room. Was it an invitation for him to follow her?

"I feel like getting pissed tonight." Neville said loudly, resting his feet on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Me too." Said Theo, watching Draco as he watched the door Hermione had just vacated.

"We need to keep an eye on Ewan, so it's a no." Draco said firmly. He was distracted by the thought of her. Her face, her lips, her smile. He heard her bedroom door shut from above.

"He can join in!" Neville said triumphantly.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Draco asked, massaging his forehead with his fingers. Imaging what he could be doing right now, if he went to her room.

"Yeah. He's a nice guy and he's been through some shit." Neville said.

"And he's in love with Pansy." Theo chimed in. "I mean the guy needs a drink."

Draco pushed himself off the kitchen side. "Just... don't drink too much, alright?"

Neville grinned and saluted Draco. "Where are you going?" He asked as Draco made his way across the room.

"Do I need your permission to take a nap?" Draco said clipping the back of Neville's head as he walked past him.

"Oi! I was only asking." Neville cried, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sleep well!" Theo yelled.

Draco looked at him just before he walked through the door. The biggest of smirks across his face. Draco regretted leaving so soon, making it rather obvious where he was actually going. Luckily, only Theo knew about his meetings with Hermione. Neville still seemed oblivious. Not that it mattered to Draco who knew. HE didn't care in the slightest. He had never taken much care or attention when it came to what others thought of him, especially since the War - but he had a feeling it would mean something to Hermione.

Not that it changed the way he thought about whatever they were in anyway. If she wanted to keep it quiet then he would respect that. If anyone else found out; and by that he meant Weasley or Potter - Draco was sure that there would be repercussions but he would deal with that when it came. It would not stop him. It would not deter him. There was something about the way he was beginning to feel for her that he wanted to explore for as long as she would allow him.

* * *

 **Hey Hey!**

 **A lot will be happening in this story in the next couple of chapters so I hope you are all still with me. There is a heat wave in the UK at the moment and I'm being distracted by being outside and beer but now the rain is coming back, I will try to keep the updates regular!**

 **Please leave me a review if you can - do you like where the story is going? Let me know!**

 **Elle x**


	24. Hidden Things

**December 21st**

Theo woke from a very light sleep when the mattress dipped beside him. He turned over in the bed and was met with Ron's freckled pale back, hunched over the bed. He was pulling on his socks.

"You're leaving?" Theo whispered to him as he stroked his back with the tips of his fingers.

"Yeah. Don't want anyone to see me." He said glancing back. Theo sat in in the bed as Ron picked his jumper up off the floor. Theo placed his hand on Ron's before he could pull the jumper over his head.

"When am I going to see you next?" Theo whispered, stroking Ron's hand.

"I'll be there today." Ron said after a short pause.

"That's not what I meant." Theo urged as his hand made its way to Ron's leg, circling his thigh. He needed him today. He needed to feel close to him. He needed him to stay with him just for a bit longer, to try to forget about what he was going to be doing. To not think of anything but being close to Ron.

"It's busy at the moment." Ron said as Theo kissed the top of his shoulders. It wouldn't take much to convince him to stay. Ron needed it too. A break. That extra few moments to forget about everything. To forget about his brothers and his family and the War and how fucked everything had gotten.

Theo ran his lips over Ron's freckled skin up to his neck and nibbling lightly at his earlobes.

"Stay for a bit longer." He whispered into his ear. His hand reached around Ron's chest and reached low until he felt his dick, rubbing it teasingly slowly

"I've got to go." Ron said letting his head rest back against Theo's shoulder. It made Theo smile, the words an utter contradiction to his actions. Ron groaned and put his hand on top of Theo's, rubbing along with him. He turned his head so he could kiss Theo, once softly on the lips then again and again until he deepened the kiss, their tongues massaging against one another's.

"No one will be awake for hours." Theo said, pulling Ron back onto the bed with him, lying him on his back as he settled in between Ron's legs and kissed him again. Theo's lips left his mouth and trailed kisses down his neck, past his collar bone, along his chest and down his stomach all the while rubbing Ron's dick with his hand until he felt it harden.

Theo watched as Ron closed his eyes, finally settling himself to the fact that this felt too good to leave just yet.

* * *

Hermione had been awake for some time but didn't want to brave the cold of the house just yet. She was too warm wrapped up in her blankets. She had a fleeting idea of walking across the the hallway and getting into bed with Draco but when a door closed along the hallway she thought it best to ignore that urge for another time.

He had after all stayed with her for some time yesterday. Initially he helped her study to pass her preliminary tests with Charlie in a few days. He sat next to her on the floor, resting his back against the side of her bed. She sat next to him as she began to memorise the charms and spells she would be tested on in a few days.

It was going well. After around fourty minutes she had memorised everything she needed to know and he had tested her on it three time. Needless to say she passed every one. So he kissed her to congratulate her. Once for everytime she had passed. One softly on her lips. Then he trailed his lips to kiss the sensitive skin of her jawline.

The third kiss he placed on her neck, just above her collar bone. He kept his head dipped when he whispered, _'Do you want me to stop?'_ She shook her head and whispered back _'No'_ ,so he carried on kissing her, slowly removing her clothes to reach more of her until his lips met the warmth between her legs.

She pulled herself back from the memories and pushed the covers off her, grabbing her dressing gown off the floor as she made her way down to the kitchen. She crept quietly along the hallway and down the stairs not wanting to wake anyone else.

She was expecting to see Harry or Draco as the early risers in the house but instead she was surprised to see Ron, sat in a chair at the kitchen table pulling on his boots.

"What are you doing here?" She said with a sleepy smile. His head spun round quickly to where she was standing at the door. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I came round last night and had a drink with Theo." He said quickly, tying the laces of his boots.

"That must have been late." She said as he stood up and pulled his jumper on.

"Yeah. I had a busy day."

"Did he talk to you about Charlie?"

"What about Charlie?"

She huffed and silently cursed Theo for forgetting. It was the main reason he had Owl'd Ron yesterday yet he had failed to mention it when he saw him.

"We're worried about him." She said flicking on the kettle to boil and turning back to Ron as he pulled on his coat.

"He's just getting himself back to normal."

"We think it might be more."

"We? Who's we?"

"Draco, Theo..."

"What do they know about Charlie!?" He said raising his voice.

"They see him just as much as I do and I agree with them. So does Neville and so does Harry."

He relaxed, his arms falling loosely by his sides. "I know what you mean. He's not been himself since Percy."

Hermione breathed a sign of relief. At least Ron agreed.

"I think we should talk to your Dad about it." She said.

"Maybe we've ignored it for too long." He said as Hermione took his hand in hers and squeezed lightly. "I'll talk to him today."

She smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. He reluctantly wrapped his hands around her waist and hugged her back. It had been a while since they had hugged. It was still the same. Tall, awkward and so Ron-like it made her smile.

"Do you want to stay for breakfast? I can make us some toast?" She said as she let go of him and stepped back but taking his hand back in hers.

"I've really got to go." He said turning to the back door.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." She said, tugging his arm. He looked down at their hands.

"Things are just... busy." He murmered.

"I know." She said. She couldn't help but be a little selfish. Only now that he was here did she realise how long it had been since they had spent time together. Her own free time had been occupied with a certain blonde lately.

"I'll come round in a few days. We can talk." He said tilting his head and giving her a strange look. Like he wanted to ask question but he turned to the door and took his leave without a goodbye.

Ron was usually so warm and bright but he felt different this morning. Not cold as such but just a little unattached. As if he was holding something back. She made a mental notes to Theo about it later. After all, they seemed to spend quite a lot of time together so she hoped he had confided in him.

* * *

"Ron said you didn't ask him about Charlie last night?" Hermione said to Theo across the table later that morning. Draco lifted his eyes from his paper and saw Theo glance over at him.

"You saw Ron?"

"Yeah he was leaving when I came downstairs, said he got here late." Draco looked over at Hermione then back to Theo who had gone rather pale, much to Draco's internal delight. He always enjoyed watching people interact under uncomfortable circumstances.

"Yeah. We had a few drinks... I must have forgotten."

"Well, he said he'll talk to Arthur about him today." Theo stood up and poured himself another coffee. "Did he seem okay though?" Hermione pressed.

"Last night? Yeah... he was fine. Why?." Theo said, keeping his back to her. Draco folded the paper in his hands and placed it on the table.

"He was just a bit distant this morning. He didn't say anything to you?" She urged but Theo just shook his head and drank his coffee.

Maybe he was distant; Draco thought; because he spent the night not only in Theo's room but in Theo's bed - and maybe he was feeling uncomfortable about being caught creeping out of the house and running into one of his best friends that he had thus far failed to tell of his relationship with said bed partner.

Theo looked over at him and Draco could not help but smirk back. Theo shook his head and took a seat at the table. Hermione caught Draco's smirk before he managed to wipe it from his face. _Shit_. He felt a swell of guilt fill his stomach.

She was staring at him now, her eyebrows furrowed. She looked mad. Her eyes left his and settled on Theo who had grabbed the paper and was pretending to read. It was their our fault really. Theo and Weasley. Hiding this from her. If her knew anything about her it's that she was pretty relaxed and he was certain this would not be as big an issue as Wesley seemed to think it would be.

"Are you ready?" Thank Merlin for Potter. He had directed his question to Theo, distracting the room and relieving some of the tension although it didn't deter Hermione. She was still watching Theo closely.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Theo replied quietly, putting his coffee on the side and grabbing his coat from the back of his chair. Draco stood up and did the same.

"It won't happen today." Harry reminded him as they walked to the back door. "We will just prep you today and then... tomorrow..."

"Yeah." Theo said quickly, pushing open the door and walking out into the garden. Harry followed him. Draco stayed for a second, swaying on his feet. Hermione stared at him, not moving from her seat.

"You know something." She said to him mutely.

"I know many things." He said with a smile. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. He made his way over to her without another thought and placed his finger under her chin, lifting her head to his.

"We'll talk later." He whispered, pressing his lips to hers. She placed her hand on his coat and pulled him closer, kissing hin deeply.

"Draco!" Harry yelled from the garden. Draco pulled back a fraction. There was a smile tugging at the edge of her lips and he wanted to take her bottom lip and drag it through his teeth. At least she didn't look angry at him any longer.

She pushed him back and looked towards the door. "Go."

* * *

The room was a buzz of people. Wizards grouped around various maps, shouting and pointing and Aurors pouring over the parchment that he and Hermione had retrieved from the Pulverbatch house a few nights ago.

Draco sat on the side lines having already done what he had come here to do today. Not that he had given any more information - he had already told them everything he could possibly remember about his family home. Every secret passage, concealed entrance and every family heirloom that could be hiding something at its centre.

He was perched on the windowsill in the main room watching Arthur, Bill and a few Aurors talking to Theo about his Father and what would happen tomorrow. Potter and Weasley sat on the sidelines, watching on.

Theo looked pale. He was nodding along to all they said, agreeing in silent to the plan. Underneath was a different picture. His fists were clenched in his lap, no doubt trying to fight the shakes and wishing this could be over.

It was exactly how Draco had felt when he was asked to speak to his own Father back in October. Angry, threatened and like he just wanted to give up.

Azkaban is not exactly a holiday retreat. Even before you step through the doors you can feel the tension risinh, gripping your muscles. You can taste the desperation in the air and it only get worse the longer you spend inside its walls.

Draco did not want his friend to have to go through this but he knew it made a difference with Lucius and he was sure it would make a difference now.

He remembered what Hermione and Neville had said. If it has even the smallest chance of working, the slightest oppourtunity to break something in him to make him talk - then it would be worth it.

Memories of Lucius breaking down in front of him swamped his vision. He could still feel his pale fingers clutching at his robes, pulling him closer and repeating over and over _It was all for you. It was all for you._ It made him feel sick. That his Father did everything he had done in the past for him, because of him.

That's why Draco was still here. To stop anyone thinking that being a pure-blood was something to celebrate. It was something he could not change in himself but maybe he could change the understanding in others. Pure blood, half blood or muggle, it didn't matter. Magic was magic, regardless of who yeilded it.

The proof of that lay with the girl he had left at the house. Granger. Hermione. Muggle. Talented beyond anyone her age. Strong morals, highly intelligent. Soft hands, rosy lips and deep brown eyes.

He had promised Theo he wouldn't tell anyone about his rendevous with Weasley, just as Theo was telling no one about Draco and Hermione. So he wouldn't tell her about them but it didn't mean she hadn't already worked it out herself. Or at least have some idea about what was going on.

He looked back at Theo who was still nodding along to the Aurors. Then he looked over to the lanky red head watching on. They were such an unlikely pair. It made Draco wonder just what it was that made Theo find Ron all those months ago. Was it always there for Theo? Was that what made him go to Weasley - or was it merely a result of the situation?

Would they ever have happened if Theo didn't go to him for help? Probably not. Yet he did and it was those specific events that bought them together. It was the same for Draco. If Lestrange had not attacked them, if they had decided to go to their family in France rather than to Andromeda it might have all been different. If the safe house that Hermione was in wasn't attacked would they have crossed paths? Unlikely.

He wasn't sure how he felt about it. He had never believed in fate. He had never been one for pondering on the _what if_ but he could not stop himself. It was weird to think what they had become. Him and Hermione. How far they had come. Trauma had created a friendship of sorts and that had evolved into so much more. Had that not occured, had he not volunteered for the watch or had the shifts been reversed then that foundation may have never have been forged between them.

Too many _what if's_. Too many _maybe's._ He needed a sense of normality. His head felt like it might implode. So he set off to find Andromeda, his Mother and Teddy to pass the time. He made his way along the hallway to the back of the house, past the kitchen, past Penelope's room and turning right past the stairs.

He could hear his Mothers voice from the small sitting room in front of him, then the piercing happiness of Teddy's little laugh. A smile crept over his face, remembering what it was like to be here with them all. Spending his nights talking and playing with his Cousin until he fell asleep and having to carry him upstairs to bed.

He stalled as he walked past the small bathroom to his left, deciding to use the bathroom before heading into the sitting room.

"Excuse me!" Penelope yelled as he walked into the bathroom. "How about you knock next time!" She cried.

"Sorry." He said, stepping backwards slowly. He was going to leave but then he saw her red face, puffy and watering eyes. She had been crying, that was obvious and she was clutching her wrist in her hand. She turned away from him, keeping her head down to the floor. He pushed the door closed behind him and cast a silencing charm on the room.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked calmly across the room.

"Get the fuck out!" She screamed, still keeping her face to the floor. There is was again, that itch, telling him to stay and talk to her. That thought he had had about Penelope ever since she arrived, the one where he thought he was crazy for even thinking it - his gut told him to go for it. So he walked over to her.

"I'm not leaving." He said grabbing her wrist from her and bringing it to his chest. He pulled back the sleeve of her shirt to see her red and raw skin glistening up at him. She yanked her hand away from him, mouth wide and angry blue eyes glaring at him. She raised her hand and slapped him round the face.

"Don't you ever touch me again!" She screamed at him, raising her hand so slap him again but he grabbed both of her wrists and pinned them to his chest.

She was closer now, forced to look up at him and he saw everything clearer now. She had been crying, that was clear but she had the first signs of a bruise under her right eye, all yellowing and speckled.

"Someone hit you?" He said, trying to keep as calm as he could as she tried to wriggle free from his grasp.

"Get off me!" She yelled. "Get of me!" But he kept a hold on her, keeping her arms from hitting out at him. She didn't have much fight in her. She stilled after about six or seven attempts and hung her head close to his chest. She cried, her sobs echoing around the tiny room.

"Who did this?" Draco whispered.

"I did this to myself." She whispered back choking on the words. "I fucked up."

"I can help." Draco whsipered back to her.

It reminded him of a time he had gone through this with someone before. Where they had hit their limit and given up. Pansy. Everything about this girl screamed Pansy Parkinson yet he had already done the checks that confirmed she was Penelope. He could be wrong but he really didn't think he was. So he pressed on.

"Loch Lomond." He whispered in her ear.

She slowly raised her head. "It was where one of my friends lived. Someone I used to know in school." He let go of her arms and she let them fall to her sides. He could see her jaw tighten and her eyes narrow, watching him carefully. She didn't move, just stared dead ahead into his eyes, watching him blink down at her.

"Fuck off." She spat at him after a few seconds.

She turned round and walked towards the bathroom mirror. She turned the tap on the sink and cupped her hands underneath the streaming water. She splashed the water over her face, carefully rubbing her eyes then grabbed the towel on the side of the sink and patted her face dry.

"If what I've just said means anything to you, then just know...he's safe."

She stared at him in the mirror, unmoving with the towel still in her hands. He saw her falter, a flash of her eyes that told him she knew exactly what he meant. She pulled the wand out of her pocket and pointed it at her face. With a wave of her hand the bruise disappeared.

Maybe that was enough. He had reached out. Given her the olive branch. If she wanted help, then she could reach out to him. After all, he had no proof. They were only niggling doubts.

He turned his back to her, leaving her on her own, closing the door quietly behind him. He had made the first move - now it was up to her.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **I've planned the next four chapters hence the faster updates so want to try keep up this pace up going forward. Planning a few more tonight with a view for at least 5-10 more chapters in total. After that... who knows!**

 **Please leave me a review if you read and enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Elle x**


	25. Reveal

**December 22nd**

It was the first time she had woken up with someone else in her bed for months. With her hazy morning brain she stared for a long time at the back of his head, taking a few seconds not knowing what to do. It was a cross between turning over and going back to sleep, or getting closer to him. She was about to turn away, deciding to go back to sleep but then she felt the warmth radiating from him. She shuffled towards him and wrapped her arm over his waist, pulling herself into him and savouring the heat in her cold room.

She woke up some hours later to a gentle tickling of his fingers on her stomach. He was resting on his elbow to her side and when she finally opened her eyes, he bent down and gave her a kiss.

"What time is it?" She whispered, reaching up to stroke her thumb along his jawline.

"Before six." He whispered back.

"We have time then." Time before the others woke and time before he had to leave.

"Time for what?" He questioned with a smirk, twisting her innocent words.

"I just meant..." She started but he kissed her again and slipped his hand between her thighs and she was lost to his fingers and his lips.

Some ten minutes later she lay on the bed breathing steadily, calming the throbbing between her legs and the thudding of her heart.  
Draco lay to her side circling his fingers on her stomach once more. She turned to him and kissed him. She could taste herself on his lips. A tangy sort of taste that if ever asked she didn't know whether she would be able to describe it.

It made her excited. That his lips had kissed her there and that she was kissing him now, remembering how he had made her feel. She reached her hand down his stomach and rubbed his crotch with her hand.

He moaned gently into her lips, cupping her face with his free hand, pulling her closer, massaging his tongue against hers. She felt confidant then that she knew what she wanted to do. So she shuffled on the bed, pushing him until he was on his back so she could straddle him.

She could feel his dick pressing through his boxers into her and she had a sudden urge to pull them down, to feel what it would feel like with him inside of her. The urge passed quickly, focussing where she initially wanted to go. She moved slowly down him, kissing his neck and chest and stomach – nibbling lightly at his soft skin until she reached his underwear.

She hooked her fingers under the waistband of his boxers and pulled them slowly down. He shuffled, lifting his bottom off the bed so she could pull them off his legs.  
His dick sprung out of it's confines, straight and hard, tempting her to stick out her tongue and lick the tip, which she did and much to her delight, Draco let out a low rumble of appreciation. So she did it again, licking the head of his dick and it bounced up and down.

"Tease..." Draco whispered, so she did it again and he chuckled making his dick bounce again.

Hermione opened her mouth and slid his dick into her mouth, closing her lips around the head and sucking gently until it popped back out of her mouth. She loved hearing him moan. The short, sharp gasps he made as she pushed her mouth down on top of him as far as she could go and pulling back up, pursing her lips and applying that little extra pressure.

He swore quietly, "Fuck, Fuck, fuck," and threaded his hand into her hair, guiding her up and down.

She wrapped her hand around the base of his dick and began pumping her hand up and down along with her mouth. He seemed to like this, his cries becoming that little bit louder until she was pumping her hand quickly up and down him and letting her mouth catch the tip of his dick.

In seconds he bucked gently and she felt his come hit the top of her mouth. She pumped him slower until he lay still beneath her, breathing heavily. She grabbed a few tissues from the pack on her bedside table and disposed of his come there, then taking a sip of the glass of water she had brought upstairs the previous night.  
"That was amazing." Draco whispered as she rested her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head. "Do you like doing that?" He whispered again.

She felt that little stir in her stomach at such an off the cuff comment. "Yes." She whispered.

He lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers. "Does it make you excited?"

"Yes." She said, unashamedly. He pulled her into him and she rested her head on his chest.

They stayed like that in the silence until they saw the sun starting to light up her bedroom.

"I should go." He said kissing her head and pushing back the covers. He climbed over her and grabbed his underwear from the end of the bed.

"What's going on with Ron and Theo?" She asked him as he pulled on his trousers. He didn't answer, just grabbed his jumper and pulled it over his head. "That look between you two yesterday." She continued. "There's something that I don't know."

"It's between Ron and Theo." Draco said.

"But you know." He didn't say anything. He sat on the bed and pulled on his shoes. Hermione sat up in bed and shuffled over to him, clutching the covers to her chest.

"Is it something about Ron's family?" She questioned.

"No."

"What about Theo's family?"

"No."

"Have they had an argument?"

"No."

He turned to her and kissed her quickly, then stood up and made his way over to her door.

"Is it something bad?" She tried once more.

"No." He said with a shake of his head. "Look... it's between them... okay." He said with a sort of soft finality.

"It's between them..." Hermione repeated back to him slowly, nodding her head as if she had just had that lightbulb moment. When she met Ron the other morning in the kitchen, the way he looked lile a deer caught in the headlights. Leaving early before everyone woke up, just like Draco was doing now.

We're they together like her and Draco were together?

Draco left the room and Hermione lay back on her bed. She pulled back the curtain above her bed and watched the sky turn from a misty yellow to a powdery blue. She lay there for some time, replaying each time she had seen them together over the past few months, wondering whether she was right or completely off the mark.

* * *

"Do you think you could get me a camera?" Hermione asked as she shuffled the now potted section of the holly bush she had found in the garden, into the corner of the room. She stood back and admired her brilliant idea.

"What do you want a camera for?" Harry asked from the armchair behind her.

"To take pictures." She said laughing. "What else would I want one for?"

Harry shrugged and chuckled to himself. "I can try."

"Thank you." She said as she began placing homemade parchment snowflakes onto the prickly leaves. It was nothing much. Just a small piece of Christmas for them to enjoy. She hoped this year would be better than last year. Christmas had sort of passed them by when they were searching for the Horcrux's last year. Ron had left by that point so it was just her and Harry and it didn't seem like they had much to celebrate.

This year was a bit different. They may not be her family but the house was filled with people she loved spending time with. Ewan was here too and she supposed it might bring a sense of normality for him. So she wanted to make the most of it.

So much had changed over the past year. Some good. Some bad. But at least they were here. They were alive and they were fighting. It meant there was a chance. A chance for a future, however unconventional it may be.

* * *

Draco apparated himself and Theo to Headquarters, briskly walking past the olive tree allowing them access into his Aunt's home. Everything had been fine when they left the safe house. Theo had been laughing and joking with Hermione and Neville, even sharing a small joke with Ewan.

Draco expected more. Anger maybe, hiding, running away but he didn't. The only time he saw slight hesitation from Theo was when they reached the front door. He stood infront of the large oak door, his hands in his pockets, looking at the brass knocker with the face of a lion carved into it.

Draco slowed and came to a stop behind him, giving him a few moments of solitude before going inside. He placed his hand on his shoulder. He wasn't sure why. Just to let him know that he was here. Theo's head dropped between his shoulder blades and they stood there for a few moments in silence, in the small garden.  
Theo pushed the door open abruptly and walked straight over to Arthur who clapped him on the shoulder as he stopped at his side. He was standing with Bill and Kingsley who nodded to him.

Draco couldn't go with him to Azkaban, but he would wait here for him until he got back, and wait for the fallout he was sure would come. He would be there for his friend to help mend the pieces today was going to rip away from him. Just as Theo was there for Draco when he did this with Lucius.

Half an hour after they left, Draco was sat in the corner of the planning room, flicking aimlessly through a book he had found on the table. It was eerily quiet. He was used to a buzz in this room, filled with Aurors and Weasleys however it seemed they had all been sent on assignments today, leaving Draco on his own.

He heard loud voices from the back of the house. He craned his neck around the open door and looked out into the hallway to see who it was. Charlie Weasley stormed along the hallway, eyes wide and furious aiming for the front door. He saw Draco out of the corner of his eye and stopped abruptly.  
Charlie looked over his shoulder, then back to Draco who sat back in his chair and watched him closely. He closed the book and clutched it to his chest studying Charlie's uneasy stance. He reached for his wand and pulled it beneath the book and his chest, just in case.

"No assignments today?" Draco asked slowly.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked casually, ignoring Draco's questions and awkwardly resting his shoulder against the frame of the door.  
"Waiting for Theo. What are you doing?"

Charlie smiled widely and pushed himself off the frame. "Just heading out." He winked at Draco as he turned and sprinted out of the front door, Apparating away with a loud pop and leaving the front door wide open.

Draco was shocked by the sudden reaction from Charlie. He sat in his chair for a few moments, a chill creeping along his spine. He didn't know whether it was the cold air streaming in from the front door or whether it was because something just did not feel right. He stood up, placing his book on his vacated seat and made his way to the front door. He stood for a moment, his hand on the oak watching the olive tree swaying in the wind; the space where Charlie had disappeared from.  
He closed the door slowly until he heard the soft click of the lock. When he turned around, he saw Penelope standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"Ewan." She said, her hands shaking.

"Penelope.."

"Pansy." She said with conviction. "It's me." She wiped her tear stained cheeks and stepped closer to him. "Where is he?"

"Pansy... what the fuck are you doing?" He said as he walked over to her and grabbed her arms, shaking her slightly. Even though he knew, even though he was sure it still came as a shock and he struggled to put his words in any conceivable order.

"You said he was safe." She choked, tears streaming from her eyes. "How do you know?"

"Granger and me... we found him a week ago." He said and she cried loudly, half smiling and sobbing with happiness.

"Where is he?"

"He's at the safe house." Draco said and her face changed immediately.

"He's gone there." She said looking over his shoulder to the front door.

"Who? Charlie?" Draco asked, shaking her again.

"It's not Charlie..." Pansy said in Penelope's soft voice.

Suddenly the puzzle pieces floating around in his mind finally fit into place. The silver names on the cards Hermione found months ago. He wasn't Charlie. Just like Penelope wasn't Penelope. She was Pansy. All this time. Charlie's name was on the card, along with Penelope's. The only other name on the card was the one woman who figured it out in the first place.

"FUCK!" He yelled as he pushed her away and ran towards the door. As he pulled it open he hit the flagstones and ran along the pathway. He heard Pansy scream his name, begging him to wait for her but he had already passed the Olive tree and her screams were lost in the darkness.

* * *

As soon as the light hit his eyes and his feet hit the grass he sprinted across the garden towards the open back door. He felt bile at the back of his throat as he saw the up-turned table in the middle of the room and two of the cupboards blown open, the contents strewn across the floor. He stepped inside quietly and made his way around the table when he saw an unconscious Ewan lying on the floor at the far end of the room. His heart leapt out of his chest as a loud piercing scream was heard from the next room.

"HERMIONE!" He yelled into the house as he scrambled over the wooden furniture scattered all over the kitchen floor. He sped through the kitchen door, running along the hallway, yelling her name once more as he rounded the door to the living room.

"HERMIONE!"

"STOP!" Screamed Charlie. He had her arms pinned to her chest with his arm gripped around Hermione's waist and his wand pushing into her neck. "If you take one more fucking step I will kill her!" Draco held his hands in the air and took in the scene. There was no piece of furniture left in one piece that Draco could see. Books, parchments and remnants of the sofa lay strewn across the floor. He could see two legs sticking out from underneath one of the upturned chairs and he hoped to Merlin that if it was Neville, that he was still alive. It certainly looked like they had put up one hell of a fight.

"Put your fucking wand down." Charlie spat as he dug his wand further into her neck.

"Why are you doing this, Charlie?" Draco asked, heart thumping against his chest, Keeping his arms held in the air, trying to keep his cool. He didn't drop his wand but gripped it tighter in his fist.

"You're going to move out of the way of the door and let us leave."

"Let her go - then you can leave."

"I'm not leaving without her... she's my prized possession."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked calmly. Charlie just scoffed.

"Only good for one thing these Mudbloods." He turned his head towards hers and sniffed her hair, running his hand down her side and along her stomach. Hermione turned her head away from him, wimpering and struggling beneath his grasp. Draco saw Charlie whisper into her ear and she stilled suddenly. Draco saw the watery look in her eyes and knew at once that he had used the Imperius curse on her. Charlie slowly let go of her and turned his wand towards Draco. He stayed behind Hermione, hiding his body behind hers.

"Just how much do you like her, Malfoy?" Charlie said, placing his free hand on her waist and stroking back along her stomach. "Shall we test it?" Draco watched, disgusted as Charlie's hand pulled up Hermione's jumper, showing him her soft pink skin. He stroked his fingers slowly up her stomach, pulling her jumper higher and higher.

"STOP!" He yelled. He could feel his stomach churning. "Please!"

"Drop your wand." Charlie said with a sneer. Defeated, Draco dropped his wand, Keeping his eyes on the glossy eyed, unresponsive Hermione.

"Turn around and walk outside." Charlie spat, his hand still placed on her stomach.

Draco obeyed, turning and walking slowly towards the hallway. He could hear their footsteps behind him as he made his way into the kitchen. Keep him talking - that was it. Keep him talking and then he could think of something - anything.

"You're not Charlie, are you?" Draco asked over his shoulder. His heart hammering against his ribcage, worried that the imposter would kill him at any moment.

"Not so stupid after all." The man said with a mild amusement to his voice.

"Who are you?" Draco urged.

"Now why would I tell you that?"

"Goyle?" Draco tried, knowing he would be wrong anyway. He made his way slowly over the mess of the kitchen.

"That great oaf, give me some fucking credit." The man spat.

There were a few people in school who referred to Goyle as on oaf which sprung to mind.

"Warrington?" Draco said, stepping out of the back door. He knew Cassius Warrington would never join the Ashes. He was one of the straightest Slytherins Draco knew and from what he remembered, Cassius had been in hiding since the end of their last year of school.

"That pretty boy couldn't pull something like this off."

There was only one other person Draco could think of.

"Pucey..." He whispered as he walked across the grass.

"Stop there." The man said as he stepped around Draco, Hermione faithfully at his side with the same dreamy look in her eyes. He had given no snort of derision at Draco's guess, so he assumed he had gotten it right.

"Adrian... Please." Draco begged. "You don't need her, take me. I have all the information you need." Draco took a small step forward, trying to close the gap between them. "Take me and I'll tell you everything."

"You like her..." Pucey's, or rather Charlie's face smirked and he wrapped his arm tightly around Hermione's waist sending Draco's stomach into another lurch.

"Just let her go... I'll do whatever you want." Another small, hopefully unnoticeable step forward was taken.

"Tempting offer... but I think I would rather hang onto her." He pulled up her jumper once more and scratched his nails across her stomach, leaving thin white trails across her perfect skin. "Torture is exhilarating you know." Pucey said as he stepped slowly backwards to the Apparition point. "The way their eyes darken when you send curses at them. They way they beg for you to stop... Oh, they say or do anything to make it stop." Draco stepped as Pucey stepped. "They just offer themselves on a plate." He said with a low chuckle, winking at Draco.

"It wont be long before she cracks." Pucey continued. Draco could see he only had two more steps before he would be able to Disapparate. He had to concentrate. "Then I'll bend her over and fuck her from behind like the good for nothing Mudblood that she is." Draco tried to ignore him, just watching his feet carefully until could be sure he could reach them.

"I'll make her scream my name and then I'll slit her throat." Pucey said just as he stepped onto the Paving slabs. Draco lunged then, not knowing whether he would get to her in time. He reached out to grab anything as Pucey's eyes closed - feeling the crushing darkness pull him off his feet.

* * *

 **A/N:**  
 **I'm a waste at the moment with these updates. I'm sorting it out I promise!**  
 **Thank you to you all for your reviews on the last chapter. Please leave me some love and some good reviews for this one!**  
 **Not too long before the next chapter - I say this but as I said, I'm a waste so don't listen to me.**  
 **Elle x**


	26. Open Wounds

**December 22nd**

Something was wrong. Usually Apparition took a split second but this seemed to be going on longer than normal. He could feel whatever he was grabbing onto moving furiously under his grasp trying to shake him off. Draco kept his grasp on the body part beneath his fingers.

He wouldn't last long... he needed air. He could feel the pressure building, pressing down on his chest. He could see bright spots in the darkness and the panic began to set in, in the swirling darkness.

Seconds later the bright light hit him and he landed with a thud on the ground. He gasped for air, welcoming the cold chill filling his lungs and a tingling sensation in his fingertips he tried to shake away. He could hear Hermione coughing and spluttering for air to his side but it was Charlie gasping beside him that he focussed his attention.

He moved quickly, slamming his fist into the first part of Charlie's - no Pucey's body that he could reach; his stomach. Draco saw his wand fly out of his grasp onto the dirt by his side and he immediately scrambled over him to grab it. He felt a fist make contact with his his ribs and cried out before throwing another aimless punch Pucey's way.

Pucey grabbed his wrist before it could connect and sent a punch flying into the side of Draco's head. His head spun, little white flecks of bright light flashing across his vision but he still managed to hit out again, connecting with Pucey's jaw.

He stretched further, his fingernails digging into the mud as Pucey landed his knee into Draco's stomach. He finally felt the hardness of the wand between his fingertips, taking another punch to the head whilst he spun the wand round until he was pressing it hard into his attackers cheek and pushing him back into the ground.

Pucey laughed, his head falling back into the mud with a thud, breathing heavily and laughing loudly. Draco took a few deep breaths and rested on his knees, keeping the wand trained on it's owner.

"The things I would have done to her..." Pucey said with a sneer, looking over at Hermione.

Draco looked over at her. She was trying and struggling to get up. She pressed her hands into the mud beneath her and rested on her knees just as Draco was. She looked dazed and she shook her head from side to side. When she finally caught his eye, Draco nodded to her and she nodded back, putting her hand to her forehead and closing her eyes.

"Could have made her think it was you." Draco spun his head back to Pucey. He was laughing, a cold and calculated laugh that stirred a part of Draco he had hidden for so may years. The anger simmering away, bubbling under his skin. "Would have made her scream your name when I fucked her." Draco's fist slammed into Pucey's face before he could finish his sneer. It felt too good - feeling the crunch of Pucey's nose under his knuckles. He felt bad - for a brief moment he felt bad because it was Charlie. It was Charlie's face but it was Pucey. It was Pucey. It wasn't really Charlie. So he slammed his fist into his face again. The pain coursed through his arm but he couldn't stop.

Over and over he drew back his fist and slammed it into Pucey's face. He saw red appear on his own knuckles and on the face below him - blood trickling from Pucey's nose and mouth but even that didn't stop him. The only thing he could hear was his fist pounding into the face of the man below him and constant buzz between his ears.

He heard screaming from somewhere. He heard his name in the distance. He looked up briefly to see where the noise was coming from but then he saw her face screaming at him.

"DRACO, STOP!"

She grabbed his hand before he could land another blow to Pucey's face. He turned to her quickly, the feel of her hands on his snapping him out of the trance he was in. He could see the fear in her eyes as she studied him carefully, her dark brown eyes watching him beneath those thick eyelashes. It looked like she didn't even recognise him. She was looking at him like he was someone else.

"Please..." She whispered. It took him a few seconds to register her words. Pucey was unmoving beneath him, blood seeping out of his nose and mouth, eyes closed. Draco nodded, lifted his other hand and passed her the wand he had been clutching. She took it swiftly from his hand and moved out of sight.

Draco dropped his chin to his chest. He sucked in the air breathing quickly and deeply, adrenaline coursing through his veins. His hands were shaking as he lifted his fist to his face and saw red and black covering his right hand. He dropped his hands to his lap and let his head fall back, looking up. He couldn't take his eyes off the blue cloudy sky. His breath catching like smoke in the cold air and watching as the vapour disappeared before his eyes.

He heard her whispering a few incantations to his side so he lifted his head. The first thing he noticed was the wide open space that they were in. They were in the middle of a large field, rolling hills all around them - no sign of people, muggle or wizard in sight. He wondered why Pucey had Apparated them here, then remembered that the Apparition had taken longer than normal. Maybe Pucey was trying to shake Draco off - so he bought him here to kill him before taking Hermione on somewhere else.

He shook his head. It was too much now. Too much to think about. Too much to try to contemplate. He dropped his gaze back down to Pucey. Hermione had bound him and moved him onto his side. She was standing above Pucey, watching him - watching Charlie.

"It isn't Charlie." Draco said, a crack in his voice as he spoke.

"What?" She said turning to face Draco. She had been under the Imperius curse when Draco had confirmed his suspicions.

"Adrian Pucey." Draco whispered. He pushed his good hand into the cold mud beneath him and staggered to his feet a rush of blood filling his head and buzzing in his ears. He shook it off, clutched his wounded hand to his chest and found her eyes once more.

"How?" She questioned again, crossing her arms over her chest. He could see the sheen of tears filling her eyes and he stepped over Pucey and stopped at her side.

"I don't know." He had no idea how they had done it. Pucey or Pansy. No Polyjuice, no Imperius curse. He had checked, many times - so how had they pretended to be their friends for so long?

Hermione was still staring down at Charlie. Draco reached out and stroked his fingers down the back of her hand, making her jump. She stepped back away from him, placing the tips of her fingers onto her neck. She looked like she had done earlier when she stopped him from hitting Pucey.

"We need answers."

* * *

As soon as they landed on the cobbled pathway in front of Andromeda's house, it was like the fog cleared in Draco's mind. He saw Harry, Ron and Arthur running towards them down the pathway.

"Neville and Ewan are at the safe house." He started before Harry held up his hand.

"We've got them. They are fine - injured but fine." Harry said patting him on the arm as Ron helped Hermione to her feet, wrapping an arm around her and guiding her inside. Arthur levitated Charlie's body and walked the unconscious man inside.

"Adrian Pucey." Draco said. Harry nodded, resting his hand on Draco's shoulder and pushing him gently towards the house.

"Penelope - Pansy, she told us everything. We got to the safe house just after you Apparated away." He said as they stepped through the front door.

They must have called everyone back because Headquarters was full of people. Aurors were rushing around, running in and out of the door, shouting at people across the room and putting up various pieces of parchment on the walls.

He had realised then, that Charlie and Penelope - the real Charlie and Penelope were missing. They had been captured. Taken. Possibly killed. Draco shook the images from his head again.

He looked for Hermione and found her in a chair by the window, Theo sitting next to her and Ron crouching down in front of her. She was sipping on a glass of water and nodding along to Rons words.

"Are you okay?" Harry said nodding to Draco's hand. He turned abruptly to Harry. He was still holding his hand, clutching it to his chest.

"Yeah." Draco whispered. Harry eyed his bloodied hand warily and waved over a Medi-Wizard from the far side of the room, pointing towards Draco.

The Medi-Wizard ran over and indicated for Draco to sit down in one of the chairs at the side of the room. As he let the woman work on his hand he looked for Hermione again.

She was sat on the other side of the room to him. Ron was hugging her, his hands wrapped around her waist, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Thank you for... yno. Saving her." Potter said to him awkwardly. Draco didn't take his eyes off her as she hugged Ron deeply. She caught his eye from across the room but looked away quickly.

Draco didn't respond. He didn't know what to say. A pain caught in his throat as if he was trying to swallow a very large lump.

The way she had looked at him earlier. Like she feared him. Like she didn't know who he was. Like she regretted everything that had happened between them. Like she didn't feel the same way about him.

After he had been patched up he made his way to the bathroom. He stared into the mirror looking back at his own reflection. He didn't recognise himself. Mud was caked on his jumper, his face, his hair - just about everywhere. His eyes were tired and bloodshot.

No wonder she looked scared of him earlier. He didn't even recognise himself.

* * *

Hermione had been moved to another safe house for questioning shortly after she had been checked over by a Medi-Wizard. Chalie and Penelope were named on the cards they had found on Theo's Father some weeks ago and so was she. After a vile of optional Veritaserum and an hour of interrogation she was free to go.

She was sent back to Headquarters. Andromeda found her and took her into the living room at the back of the house. She waved her wand over Hermione, cleaning the mud away from her clothes and sitting her down in one of the comfy chairs by the fire. Hermione was thankful for the warmth the fire gave her and even more so when Draco's Mother bought her in a strong cup of tea and a few biscuits.

Narcissa was pleasant. Asking Hermione how she was with a hint of concern to her voice and wrinkle to her brow. Hermione said she was fine but she wasn't. She was exhausted and unhappy. She wanted to find the real Penelope and Charlie. She worried about Neville and Ewan. She wanted to talk to Draco. She wanted to get out of here and back to the safe house but she could do anything. Kinglsey had assured her they were doing everything they can to find their missing comrades. Andromeda assured her Neville and Ewan were fine. Draco was no where to be seen. She wasn't allowed back to the safe house until it had been thoroughly checked and re-charmed.

She was joined shortly after by Theo who walked straight over to her and hugged her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She lied again.

Theo told her they were interviewing Charlie - no, Pucey right now.

"They think they know how they've done it and are trying to reverse it. Arthur said he would come get us when it's time."

Hermione didn't think she wanted to watch but when Theo mentioned the mirrored glass in all the interview rooms, she worried less. At least that way Pucey wouldn't be able to see her.

Ah hour later, Harry and Draco came into the room. Draco looked better than he did the last time she saw him. No mud, no blood, but his right hand was wrapped up in a crisp white bandage. She wanted to go over to him and hug him but his Mother got there first, placing her hand on his cheek and whispering to him. Harry came over to her and hugged her whilst Draco sat himself on the sofa and picked up a book of the coffee table. He did not look at her once.

Shortly after Arthur came to get them all with Ron in his stead. He lead them into a part of Headquarters Hermione had never been before. Down to an enlarged cellar and into a long corridor with a number of doors. They went into the first door and watched through the mirrored glass.

Charlie certainly didn't look like Charlie anymore.

Until she saw the Medi-Wizard remove the magically enhanced skin graft from his arm with her own eyes, she still had not believed it was Adrian Pucey. Memories of a young boy from school flashed into her mind. The same flat, dark brown hair, round face and pale eyes just as she had remembered him, only he was older.

His face was sporting a few dark bruises under both of his eyes where Draco had hit hit - something that Hermione in hindsight thought he thourally deserved.

At the time however, she had thought Draco was beating Charlie up. Charlie who was just confused or ill or brainwashed. Not an intruder. A spy, in their own ranks. Two actually. She had since found out that Penelope was not in fact Penelope but was none other than Pansy Parkinson. It was too much to comprehend.

Everything that had happened over the past few weeks all made sense. The change in Penelope's personality. The huge change in Charlie. She and Draco had discussed it many times however at the time he confirmed their suspicions, she did not believe him. She was scared and confused and wary of everything she had ever known. For a moment she even questioned if Draco was Draco.

She felt shitty. He had come for her just in time, saved her, tried to comfort her but she moved away from him, was even scared of him for a moment. She desperately wanted to talk to him, to tell him she was sorry but she couldn't do it in front of everyone.

They were lead into another room further down the corridor and stood behind the mirrored glass, watching as two Aurors interrogated Pansy Parkinson. She was still wearing Penelope's clothes that looked so strange on her now she had transformed back into her normal self. She looked like her, the way she did when they were at Hogwarts. Her long dark hair now bobbed at her shoulders, her eyes as green as they had ever been, nose still slightly pug-shaped - but she looked older. Tired.

Hermione, Draco, Theo and Harry were watching Pansy through the glass with a few other Aurors, Arthur, Ron and Kingsley. The room was silent bar a rusting of parchment as the Aurors noted down everything that Pansy said.

One of the interviewers in the room with Pansy pulled out a thin, oblong shaped black slab that Hermione realised was a mobile phone. The same mobile phone that she had seen Penelope with a few weeks ago. She turned to Draco but he did not take his eyes off the phone. She heard Harry whisper to Theo, explaining what it was and what it was used for as the interviewer continued with his questions.

"We found this in your room." He said slowly. "Can you tell me what you used this for?"

Pansy shook her head, looking down at her nails.

"We've seen the messages." The Auror said slowly. She picked at her nails. "We have your fingerprints on the phone." She didn't even acknowlegde his words until his next sentence. "We've seen the coordinates you sent."

"Coordinates?" Hermione said, turning to Harry who looked equally as surprised as she did. She looked back through the glass to see Pansy holding her head in her hands. Muffled sobs cried out from between her fingertips.

"I didn't mean for him to die." Hermione though she heard her say. She felt a drop in her stomach.

"What?" Said Harry turning to one of the Aurors in the room. Hermione could feel herself heating up. She knew. She knew even before the Auror confirmed it.

"She gave the coordinates to the White Rabbit safe house." The Auror said quietly.

Hermione placed her hand on her stomach. She felt like she had been hit by a bus. Dean, Dean, Dean. He swam infront of her eyes. His smiling face, his arms holding onto her, his lips kissing her, his words making her laugh.

The memories flooded back and the ache she already felt in her body felt like it was about to explode out of her. She felt a hand wrap around her waist, steadying her, trying to comfort her but it didn't stop the shrill cry from escaping her lips. It echoed round the small room.

She looked up, finding Pansy Parkinson's face. She was crying - why was she crying? Hermione screamed at her through the glass. She wanted to claw through the glass, to break it and climb through and scream at her and hurt her. Where was her wand? She needed her wand. She pushed her hand into her pocket but was stopped, the wand wrenched from her grip.

She felt the arm around her waist grip her tighter as her knees buckled. Dean, Dean, Dean. She kept seeing him. Not smiling anymore but blood pouring out of his stomach, his cries of pain as he lay dying on the ground beneath her.

Bright flecks of light shone in front of her teary eyes, making her feel dizzy. Her head felt like it was about to split apart and she could still hear screams ringing in her ears. She didn't know if they were her own or Dean's. Her feet left the floor as she was picked up in someone's arms and taken from the room. The ache in her chest overtook her anger and the tears fell quickly, sobbing into the chest of the person carrying her.

Draco. She could smell him. The familiar manly scent that often lingered in her room and on her bed sheets after he spent the evening with her. She clung to him.

He Apparated them back to the safe house and carried her all the way inside, upstairs and into her bedroom. The crying had stopped but the tears still filled her eyes as he placed her on the edge of her bed and bent down in front of her. He reached down, slowly untying her laces and removing her trainers from her feet. He took off the jacket she was wearing and placed it on the floor next to her bed.

Hermione sat slumped on the bed, her hands resting limply by her sides, staring down at her knees. She had nothing left. Nothing. Everything felt numb. She could see Draco's knees resting against her own. His hands were either side of her on the bed and she could hear him saying her name.

"Hermione." He whispered quietly. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't lift her eyes to meet his. She wanted to say so much to him but her throat was sore and she just felt heavy. Hermione felt one of his hands on her shoulder pushing her down as he lifted her legs onto the bed. She turned on her side as he pulled the covers over her.

He hesitated with his hand on her arm. Hermione desperately wanted him to stay. For him to wrap her up in his arms, to feel his body against hers. He had a way of making her feel safe and protected that she craved at that moment. Hermione felt his hand leave her arm, his footsteps creaking on the floorboards until she heard the door shut behind him.

Tears filled her eyes. She wanted this all to be over. To run away and to hide and to never have to deal with grief ever again. She sobbed silently into her pillow until the tiredness in her bones took over her and she fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Another chapter up. I'm on a roll!**

 **Big shout out to Lena2244, justanotherwitch89 and guest for your lovely comments last chapter! So glad you are sticking with me on this journey!**

 **Please leave me another review if you read and liked this chapter!**

 **Much love, Elle x**


	27. Healing

**December 23rd**

Hermione woke when it was still dark, the anger flooding back into her body as soon as she opened her eyes. Remembering everything that had happened. She dressed quickly, grabbed her backpack and made her way quietly downstairs.

She was going to Headquarters, to find Pansy Parkinson, to find Adrian Pucey and make them talk. Not that she would be able to get anywhere close to them but she would try. Then she would go back to the Carribald house and search there.

As she turned the corner of the kitchen Harry's head lifted off the table.

"I knew you would." He said rubbing at his eyes.

She strode past him, aiming for the backdoor but he shoved his chair back from the table and stood infront of the backdoor.

"Let me leave." She said fiercly.

"What good is it going to do?" Harry said slowly.

"I'm going back to search the house."

"They are already there."

"You told them?"

"We caught the spy so I had to."

"Then I'll find the Stone."

"No one knows where we even start. It's only a matter of time before Pansy starts talking. She's the best hope we have."

"So you put your best hopes in the hands of a murderer."

"We have to!" Harry yelled. "We have nothing else to go on!" Hermione closed her eyes and steadied herself. "We finally have the upper hand and if you go off now it could ruin it all." She listened, taking in his words, drinking them in. "This could be over soon, Hermione."

She opened her eyes when she felt his hands grip her upperarms. "We just need a bit more time." He said patiently.

She let him lead her back up the stairs and into her bedroom. He helped her back into bed then lay down next to her ontop of the covers, gripping her hand tightly. They lay there for some time, staring at the ceiling and holding onto one another. Hermione held back her tears, soothed by Harrys thumb stroking over the back of her hand.

"Alright?" Harry whispered into the darkness. Hermione didn't respond, she just rolled over and looped her arm over Harrys chest pulling her into him. Harry chuckled and looped his arm over hers, hugging eachother side by side.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "He was your friend too." She forgot sometimes that Harry held the weight of the world on his shoulders in this War. Everyone who died, Harry felt personally resposible for and she assumed that Deans name was added to that ever extending list.

"There is more light in this world than darkness." Harry whispered. "That I'm sure of."

"I know." She hugged her friend tighter.

Harry patted his hand against her arm and she lifted her head off his chest. He swung his legs off the bed and pushed off the bed. Hermione pulled her pillow under her head and watched Harry move towards the door.

He stopped briefly and turned back to her. "Time, Hermione. Just give it time."

Hermione lay in the darkness of her room listening to Harrys creeking footsteps as he made his way to his room on the next floor.

She wished Harry had stayed with her. She really didn't want to be on her own. She thought of Draco asleep in the room opposite her. She wanted to go to him. To lie with him so she didn't have to be alone - but how selfish was that? Using him for her own comfort; it was unfair.

There was another reason. That reason kept Hermione from sleeping. The urge to go to him and get into bed with him, sliding her arm around his chest and pulling him close to her. To feel the warmth of his body next to hers. To feel his skin close to hers. It was something that she could not get from Harry.

After everything that happened over the past twenty four hours she had so much she wanted to say to him. That she was sorry for the way she reacted to him after he had saved her from Pucey, that she was thankful he was there when she found out about Dean.

Right now wasn't the time. It was too late now, the sky was still dark outside and the house so still. Hermione was tired. Really, really tired and she knew she needed sleep before she attempted to explain it all to him tomorrow. So she closed her heavy eyes to let tomorrows Hermione deal with the fallout.

* * *

By the time Draco and Theo had cleared up the house from Puceys attack it was nearly two in the morning and what little sleep he got, he woke violently from each time. He gave up a little after five and had come straight down and lit the fire in the living room.

His head was a mess.

He was conflicted about whether leaving Hermione last night was a good idea. He left her when she had just found out about Dean. He wanted to stay but he didn't know whether she wanted him to.

He was worried about how Hermione would react to him now. Pansy was once one of his friends. She had been the reason Dean had died so would she hold Draco partially to account?

His head ached.

They had never talked about their relationship. He had said to her that they should just see how it goes but even he couldn't deny the slow and steady increase of his feelings since she had arrived. He thought she felt the same but the way she acted yesterday... it made him question everything.

After all, it had only been a few months since she had arrived here and before that she had been with Dean. Had it all been too soon for her?

He was scared when he saw her reaction yesterday. It terrified him. Her grief. It was haunting. At least she had calmed down when he had taken her back to the house. He didn't care about the confused looks on everyones faces when he pushed them away and scooped her gently into his arms.

"Alright?" Harry said interrupting his thoughts as he walked into the living room. Draco turned and looked at him then looked back into the fire. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now.

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked. Draco looked at Harry then looked to the clock above the fireplace. Five fourty five, the clock read. Harry really was an idiot sometimes.

"Partying." Draco said sarcastically.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I need to talk to you." Draco sat back in his chair. Harry sat down opposite him on the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped tightly together. He looked like he hadn't slept either.

"Ron seems to think..." Harry started awkwardly. "...That you and Hermione..." He rubbed his hands, "...that you two are..."

"I'm not discussing this with you." Draco said calmly, cutting him off and crossing his arms over his chest.

Harry stared at him. The way he used to at school. Like he immediately wanted to hit him. "Why not?" He said defensively.

"Because it isn't any of your business."

"She's our friend." He snapped.

"I know." Draco said calmly.

"So you don't deny it!" Harry snapped again. Draco shook his head slowly, remaining calm. He was too tired for anything else. He had barely slept and it wasn't even six in the morning.

He closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the chair, waiting for the jinx, the curse, the punch but none came. It was quiet bar the cracking of the wood in the fireplace.

Draco opened his eyes. Harry was also sat back in his chair with such a confused look on his face Draco had to stop himself from sniggering.

"You and Hermione." He said, shaking his head. "Ron and Theo."

"You know about Ron and Theo?" Draco questioned. Harry nodded.

"They haven't exactly been discreet about it." Draco smirked. "And Ron trying to keep a secret is like Hermione trying not to be right." Harry rubbed his eyes. "I miss a lot but that... was obvious."

"How did it go with Theo yesterday?" Draco asked trying to change the subject. Then it hit him. With everything that happened he realised he hadn't even asked Theo if he was okay.

"His Father is open to talking which is good but it means we need Theo again."

Draco nodded. He made a mental note to talk to his friend about it when he woke up. Harry stood up and made his way towards the door but stopped and turned back.

"She's okay you know... just in case you were worried." He said. Draco folded his arms tighter over his chest. "I saw her a few hours ago. She's just upset... her and Dean... they were... really good friends."

"Leave it, Potter." Draco held up a hand to stop him. The last thing he wanted from Potter was pity.

"Fine." Harry held up his hands in peace. "Just check on her later for me. I'll be at Headquarters all day." He added, leaving the room before Draco could say yes.

He turned back to the fireplace and watched the flames for some time. At least Harry didn't freak out about him and Hermione. He didn't know what would happen when he saw Ron. He was always a bit of a loose canon - but he had Theo to calm him down at least.

His eyes felt heavy. He closed them and felt his body relaxing as the warmth of the fire took his worries away. Pucey and Pansy had been found out. Theo was okay. Neville was okay. Hermione was okay. Everything at that moment was okay. He would deal with everything else later.

"Hey." Draco woke suddenly and hit out at whoever was attacking him. His hand slapped away the hand poking him. It was Neville.

"Tired?" Neville asked. Draco focussed in on the long shimmering scar above his left eye. Theo told him he had been knocked out after Pucey had flung the bookcase into him during the fight.

"How are you doing?" Draco asked rubbing his face.

"Fine." He said. "They said the scar wont fully heal but..." he looked down at his bandaged arm, "this will be fine in day or two."

"Good."

"All things considered I feel pretty lucky - I could be dead."

Draco nodded agreeing that it was indeed lucky that nothing worse had happened to Neville, Ewan or Hermione. He looked at the clock above the fire. It was eight fifteen.

"You look like shit." Neville said watching him carefully.

"Fuck you." Draco said, moving towards the fireplace. Neville laughed loudly and sat down in His vacated armchair. Draco stood in front of the fire feeling the watch from the flames on his back.

"Ron caught me up with what happened after I got knocked out."

"Oh yeah." Draco said.

"Yeah. How's the hand?"

"Better than Pucey's face." Neville laughed.

"How is she?"

"Who?" Draco said innocently.

"Hermione, idiot"

"Potter said she was fine."

"You haven't seen her?" Neville pressed

"Not since last night."

"Oh yeah?" The tone in his voice was laced with dirty innuendo.

"I put her to bed, idiot." Draco snapped.

"I know I'm pulling your leg." Neville said smiling. "So you and Hermione ehy?" He said, unable to stop himself or the smirk filling his cheeks.

"Not you as well." Draco said turning to Neville.

"What? I'm just shocked." Neville said smiling still.

"Not as much as I was, trust me." He said quietly.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No - why does everyone want to talk about this?"

"Because it's fucking fascinating!" Neville cried. Draco just scowled at him. "Come on! It's you - and Hermione. Never in a million years..."

"I'm going to get a coffee." Draco said cutting Neville off and striding past him out of the door.

"Two sugars in mine!" Neville cried.

"Hey." Theo said as Draco walked through the kitchen door.

"Hey." Draco replied.

"Coffee?"

"Yeah and one for the idiot next door." He answered, resting his shoulder against the fridge.

"Two sugars in his?"

"Yeah."

Theo flicked the kettle to boil.

"How're you doing?" He asked pulling down three mugs from the cupboards

"Fine." Draco shrugged.

"Hand alright?" He took a spoon out of the draw and the coffee jar towards him.

"Better - You okay?"

"Yeah." Theo said mutely spooning the coffee into each of the cups. He pulled the sugar jar over next, put two sugars in Neville's cup, one in his own and none in Draco's.

"Will you get me the milk?"

Draco shifted off the fridge and put the cold milk next to the mugs on the side. Theo turned around and rested his back against the kitchen side.

"She took it pretty bad yesterday?" Theo said in more of a questioning tone.

"Mhhh." Draco hummed taking a seat at the table.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Draco bashed his fist on the table.

"For fucks sake, no." He snapped.

"Joking!" Theo cried holding his hands in the air. He nodded to the wall. "Heard Neville in the other room."

Draco shook his head. "What is with these Gryffindor's' and wanting to talk?"

"Ron doesn't." Theo added.

"Well he's just..." Theo gave him a warning glare, "...a lovely guy." Draco smiled the fakest smile he could muster - No teeth and wide cheeks. Theo chuckled as he poured the water into the mugs, the spoon clanking loudly against the ceramic edges.

"I didn't get a chance to ask how everything went yesterday, with your Father." Draco said as Theo passed him his black coffee.

"Oh you know..." He poured milk into his and Neville's mugs and gave them one last stir. "Shit." He shrugged. "Weird."

"Did he want to talk?"

"Yeah." He picked up his mug and cradled it in his hands. "At me more than listen to me but it's something I guess."

"You have to go back?" Theo nodded.

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

Draco looked outside. The early morning frost covering the dark green trees outside, turning them dusty white. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. It was Christmas. A time for happiness and joy yet everything felt flat and lifeless.

"He cried when I walked in." Theo said quietly pulling Draco's attention back to him. "I mean he shouted at me, at everyone actually but then... he cried."

"Fuck." Draco whispered.

"Yeah."

Draco could see Theo tapping his mug nervously with his fingers.

"Wanna talk about it?" Draco said with a smirk. Theo looked up at him and rolled his eyes.

"Fuck off."

* * *

The house felt so quiet. Ewan had not returned to the house, Harry was still at Headquarters and Neville had gone to his Grandmothers house to see what help he could be at the makeshift hospital.

Ron had sent an Owl earlier. It was brief but to the point.

Dad says to stay there for now. He will send word if they need more feet on the ground. It feels different here today. Hard to explain but it's not in a bad way.

I'll send more news as soon as I can.

Theo folded up the note carefully and pushed it into his back pocket.

"We're to stay here until they need us." He said to Draco as he walked back into the living room. He didn't look up from him book but Theo saw the slight incline of his head in recognition.

"What are you reading?" Theo asked.

Draco moved the book so he could read the title. Theo tilted his head and saw the gold embossed letters on the deep blue cover of the book. It read 'The Catcher in the Rye.' He had never heard of it.

"Any good?" He questioned again and Draco nodded silently, keeping his eyes fixed on the page infront of him.

Draco had become more silent as the morning progressed. As if everyhour that ticked by, everyhour that Hermione stayed in her room made him more introverted, more reclused into his own thoughts.

It surprised Theo how much Draco had changed since the end of the War. In school, he used to get louder as the pressure grew, angrier with everything that didn't go his own way. Now he was silent, pensive, as if he was evaluating each eventual outcome of a situation before he made a decision about what he was going to do.

Ron just said what he thought most of the time. Not that Theo minded. Half the time it just made him laugh.

"Is that one of her books?" A single nod again was all Theo got back. Theo watched Draco, realising that he had not yet turned the page. He was either a very slow reader; which Theo knew not to be true; or he was actually in deep thought.

Theo hated silence. He hated thinking too much. He hated reading. It was too quiet. He preferred to listen to music so he could focus on the words to the song, or the beat where he would count as his foot tapped on the floor, or the melodies taking him away to far off places. A white sandy beach, ontop of a mountain, a bustling city.

It gave so much more than words ever did. Music could express a thousand different emotions in such a short space of time. Theo didn't have the patience to read a thousand words that would take him half an hour to not get anywhere near the emotive state that music did.

Draco had still not turned the page of the book. Theo watched his eyes, glassy and unfocussed. He defintely wasn't reading.

"What's it about?" Theo asked.

Draco suddenly snapped the book shut in his hands, making Theo jump. He didn't look at Theo as he got to his feet. He hesitated, then placed the book on the coffee table before leaving the room without a word.

Theo heard Draco's purposful steps up the stairs and then he heard the bathroom door open and the shower turn on.

Theo exhaled loudly pushing himself off the chair and walked over to the corner of the room. He flicked on the radio and twisted the dial until he found a beat he liked. He lay on the sofa and closed his eyes, forgetting everything but the song in his ears.

* * *

The music woke her first of all. Then the sound of running water hitting the bathtub. She rubbed at her eyes then pulled back the curtain seeing the daylight break into her room.

Before she had time to think about anything else her door opened abruptly and Draco stormed in. Without hesitation, before Hermione could open her mouth to speak he had pulled back her bedcovers and hoisted her body over his shoulder.

"What are you doing!" She yelled at him, hitting his back with her fists as he walked them out of her bedroom and along the hallway.

He didn't stop, he didn't speak just kicked the door shut behind them as they entered the bathroom and plonked Hermione in the clothes she had been wearing the day before, under the stream of water coming from the showerhead.

"What the hell are you doing!" She yelled at him as he stepped away from her and pulled off his jumper. She was already soaking wet, the water making her t-shirt stick tightly to her. She pushed her sodden hair out of her eyes and watched as Draco kicked off his trousers and shuffled out of his boxer shorts.

"Draco..." She murmed, confused as he stepped into the bathtub with her. He threaded his hand through her wet matted hair and bent his head to meet her lips. It was as if the combination of his lips and the warm running water soothed her. She relaxed into him as his thumb traced her cheek and his other hand tickled at the hem of her t-shirt.

He pulled back from her. Hermione opened her eyes. She placed her hand on his chest and gave him a small smile before hooking her fingers under her t-shirt and pulling it over her head. She dropped the wet shirt onto the bathroom floor.

She unbuttoned her jeans and tried to push them over her thighs but struggled.

"This is your fault." She said to Draco as he watched her continue to struggle.

"Sorry." He said, with absolutely no remorse as Hermione finally managed to push her jeans past her thighs and step out of them. She bent down, picked them up then dropped them ontop of her shirt.

She righted herself and stood infront of Draco, the water from the shower head rushing down her back. She removed her underwear then reached out to him, grabbing his hand and pulling him closer to her. He hooked his arms around her waist, his chest pressed against hers, the hardness between his legs pressed against her stomach.

Hermione lifted her hand and stroked Draco's cheek. They stood there for a few moments holding onto one another, the water pooling between her breasts.

She pushed on the ball of her feet and pressed her lips to his. Draco seemed to hold onto her tighter, his fingers pressing into her back lifting her up and pulling her as close as he could. She smiled as her nose pressed into his. Everything about this should have been awkward but it seemed to feel so normal to her. It was the first time she had felt steady and grounded since yesterday despite him lifting her off her feet.

* * *

 **It's taken me long enough! Sorrryyyyy.** **I'm gonna try get the next chapter up within a week. We're closing in on the end!**

 **Can you believe Christmas is two weeks away! Gaaaaah.**

 **Please leave a review!**

 **Love** **Elle x**


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